Indian veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has named a player, who can take the place of Ambati Rayudu in Chennai Super Kings (CSK) following his retirement from the Indian Premier League in 2023. The five-time champions will look for the replacements of Ben Stokes and Ambati Rayudu after releasing them ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
Ambati Rayudu played a crucial role in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) championship win, but he retired after the final, therefore they will need to find a replacement for him and the team will have quite a few options of Indian batters going into the IPL auction 2024.
Speaking on his YouTube Channel, Ravichandran Ashwin feels that Chennai Super Kings might be more likely to target one player than another even if there are several individuals whom the team might consider to occupy the No. 4 place.
Homeboy Shahrukh Khan, who was released by Punjab Kings would undoubtedly be a target, given his power-hitting skills
“I have a feeling that they will invest it in Karun Nair. They are searching for a replacement for Ambati Rayudu. Shahrukh is not a replacement for him at No.4. I have no idea who they are going to play in that position this season.
“They might try a left-hand option but if you look at CSK’s track record, they have never gone for an unknown commodity”.
“They have never played anybody who just did well in their first season of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So Karun Nair, folks, brace yourself to see him in yellow. I am not committing to anything, just doing a little Ravi Shastri impression,” Ravichandran Ashwin said.
After struggling in the previous several domestic seasons, Karun Nair returned to form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Vidarbha and the County Championship for Northamptonshire. He last played in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and could be a valuable addition to Chennai Super Kings in the middle order spot.
Karun Nair Has A Triple Hundred In A Test Match Played In Chennai – Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin thinks that Karun Nair can play the spin well and that MS Dhoni prefers to have those types of bats in his lineup. He cited Nair’s triple-hundred-scoring performance against England at Chepauk.
“He is somebody who can play spin well, who could sweep and reverse sweep. MS Dhoni loves it when there is a batter who can play between the top order and the middle order in the No.4 slot, especially in Chennai.
“I feel Karun Nair is perfect for that. I haven’t really seen Manish Pandey play spin too much in Chennai but Karun Nair, remember has a triple hundred in a Test match played in Chennai,” Ravichandran Ashwin added.
Karun Nair’s smashed 303 against England at the Chepauk Stadium in a Test match in December 2016 but he hasn’t been able to make the national squad since March 2017.
