Since the Indian Premier League began in 2008, the tournament successfully completed six editions. Several things had a massive turn around. India became the World Champions, Afghanistan broke into the International stage, Sreesanth was banned from playing because of his involvement in IPL Spot Fixing and finally Sachin Tendulkar bid adieu to the gentlemen’s game. But one thing never changed in the past 6 years. It is none other than the affinity between Chennai Super Kings and the top 3 finish in IPL. In the six editions, the MS Dhoni led IPL side reached the finals 5 times winning the tournament twice. Chennai Super Kings’ worst performance in the IPL is the semifinals loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2009 season. Majority of the credits for their golden run goes to the think-tank behind the players. The team management that includes head coach Stephen Fleming, bowling coach Andy Bichel, fielding coach Steve Rixon and their ever supportive manager Mr. Radhakrishnan aka Russell. They always believed in the core of the team. It was evident from their tactics used in the 2011 IPL auction. Unlike other teams, Chennai brought back almost all the players who represented them in the previous editions whereas other teams decided to go in with some new faces to their squad. With the 2014 IPL auctions barely a week away, here is a look at what Chennai Super Kings have in store for the auctions.
In the 2014 IPL player retention, Chennai Super Kings retained their nucleus and made the full use of retentions by retaining the maximum limit of 5 players. The thing that impressed me is that they retained 4 Indians out of the 5 players. As the trend that went by in the previous editions, the Indian players have a much more impact than the foreign imports. The seven Indian players in the playing XI are crucial to a team’s composition and their success. Chennai Franchise made a wise move by retaining four World Class Indians in skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and R, Ashwin along with West Indian Dwayne Bravo as their only overseas player. Since they retained five players, they have just one Joker card to use in the auctions. The Joker card should be used for an overseas player because Chennai had already retained four Indians. Even before the auctions, Chennai Super Kings spent 38 million for retentions which means they will have a purse of 22 million for the auction. This may prevent the franchise from spending more money for a huge signing.
Chennai Super Kings has the knack of having a strong batting order that bats right through the tail. They get their combination right by including 4-5 All Rounders in their playing XI. Here are some of the players that Chennai Super Kings might be tempted to purchase in the upcoming auctions.
Luke Wright
Seasoned T20 All Rounder Luke Wright might be one of the players who have the ability to fit well in CSK‘s scheme of things in the forthcoming IPL season. The Englishman is considered as one of the dangerous batsman in the T20 circuit. He can roll his arm over whenever his team needed him to do so. He can be explosive at the top of the order and has the ability to score runs at a brisk pace in the initial power play overs. If the CSK team management chooses not to use the Joker card for Mike Hussey, Wright will be a perfect replacement at the top of the order. He has already has some experience playing in IPL when he represented Pune Warriors in the previous editions. If everything goes well in the right direction, Englishman Luke Wright may end up as a Chennai Machan.
James Neesham
Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris are the pace bowling All Rounders CSK had in their starting lineup in the last edition of IPL. Apart from these three, Chennai had Ravindra Jadeja and R. Ashwin as their spinning all rounders. With the team management deciding to not to retain Morris and Morkel, they might be tempted to sign New Zealand’s James Neesham to get the combination right for the tournament. Neesham has proved himself in the 2013 Champions League T20 where he scored a quick fire century in a practice game against a local team and when the tournament began, Neesham consistently performed and almost took his side Otago Volts to the semi finals. He will be itching to get a contract in this year’s IPL.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Exactly a year ago, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a new face in the Indian side. He cemented his spot in the side with a flurry of good performances against Pakistan and England. A lot was expected from him in the previous edition of IPL and he responded in style. He was one of the bright stars for Pune Warriors who had a rather disappointing season. His great form was evident from his performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the match in which Chris Gayle scored 175 that prompted RC to post a record score of 263 in the given 20 overs. In that particular match, Kumar gave way just 23 runs in 4 overs and he even managed to keep Chris Gayle at bay. With the Chennai outfit looking for a good local pacer, Kumar who had earned his skipper MS Dhoni‘s faith in Indian colors has a good chance of playing for the Men in Yellow.
Tim Southee
Tim Southee is not a new entrant into the Chennai Super Kings camp as he was a member of the outfit in the 2010 edition. Later he was released from the side. This time around, he may get a look in into the CSK line up courtesy his good performances over the last few months. Chennai Super Kings will look to sign a bowler who can be really fast and have a good accuracy with his line and length. He will be a perfect foil for Dwayne Bravo in the slog overs. With the amount of money CSK have, it is clear that they won’t go for a big signing for the likes of Morne Morkel, Mitchell Johnson or Mitchell Starc. Instead, Tim Southee will be a good addition for MS Dhoni and his team.
Apart from these players, the team management will more probably try their best to sign their ever reliable batsman Subramanian Badrinath along with opener Murali Vijay. There are also some chances for them to buy Irfan Pathan, Shami Ahmed, Darren Sammy or Eoin Morgan. As far as their Joker card is concerned, it is more likely that they will use it for either Mike Hussey or West Indies pacer Jason Holder.
