Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have retained three Indian players and one overseas player ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction. Once again, CSK will be led by MS Dhoni with Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Here's a quick look at the players whom the defending champions CSK have retained for the IPL 2022 under retention cards.
Ravindra Jadeja
Along with the captain, star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is the veteran Indian player yellow army has retained. The 32-year-old has significantly improved his batting numbers as a finisher in the past couple of years. In addition, he is a gun fielder and can also get crucial breakthroughs. Eventually, his overall ability forced the management to go for him. Jadeja has been retained for Rs 16 crore.
MS Dhoni
Four-time IPL winning captain, MS Dhoni was no-brainer for them. In fact, CSK’s CEO Kasi Viswanathan had already indicated that the stalwart will be the first and default choice for CSK going forward. If Dhoni manages to win the title in this edition he will equal Rohit Sharma’s record of winning the most IPL title (5) as a captain. The veteran has taken a pay cut and retained for Rs 12 crore.
Moeen Ali
Along with these three, for the last remaining spot, the 4 times champions went with England’s all-rounder Moeen Ali to take their baton forward for the coming seasons. Moeen’s ability to smash big hits and his threatening off-spin ensured that the all-rounder isn’t going anywhere from the camp. Ali has been retained as Rs 8 crore.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
The orange cap winner in the 2021 season Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn’t given the second thought to the CSK management. The prolific opener seems to have a fantastic future ahead as the youngster is still only 24-year-old and considering his age CSK has decided to stick with the opener. Gaikwad was picked for Rs 6 crore compared to his Rs 20 lakh price tag in previous season.
Remaining purse - Rs 48 crores
Notable exclusions
On the other hand, IPL legend Suresh Raina who played 205 IPL matches and scored 5528 runs with a healthy average of 32.52 and an impressive strike rate of 136.73 isn’t retained by his former team after serving for more than a decade.
Former West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, T20 World Cup 2021 winner Josh Hazlewood, young prodigy Sam Curran and Indian pace batteries Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur also weren’t retained by the franchise.
Players Released
Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, Chezhian Hari Nishanth, Dwayne Bravo, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mitchell Santner, Sam Curran, K. Bhagath Varma, Robin Uthappa, Narayan Jagadeesan, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, R Sai Kishore, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Harishankar Reddy.
