Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is one of the teams which is likely to retain 4 players and spend the amount of Rs 42 crore before the IPL 2022 mega auction. There are a couple of automatic retentions while the franchise is also expected to reward the players who played a key role in the title win this year.
There’s no doubt regarding MS Dhoni’s future with the team while Ravindra Jadeja also looks an automatic retention. There are many contenders for the remaining 2 spots and the team management will have to make some big calls.
Before the last date to submit the list of retained and released players, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has picked 4 players which the Yellow Army might retain. Pathan, who also represented CSK during his long IPL career, has picked Dhoni, Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali as his 4 picks.
Speaking to Star Sports, Pathan said: “Mahendra Singh Dhoni yes, Ravindra Jadeja yes, Ruturaj Gaikwad absolutely yes. You might see the future in him as far as the leadership is concern, what he has shown consistency, that has been outstanding.”
“But the fourth one? Sometime back I was thinking about Faf du Plessis, he is 37-year-old. You don’t wanna let go off an all-rounder, either it’s Sam Curran or Moeen Ali. I would go with Moeen Ali for the fourth spot,” he added.
Ruturaj won the Orange Cap for piling up 635 runs in IPL 2021 and is a strong contender to be retained. He leads Maharashtra in domestic cricket and can also be given the team’s charge in the future. Moeen also proved his worth in the season and might pip all-rounder Sam Curran to become the 4th retention. Suresh Raina didn’t have a great run in IPL 2021 and could be on the list of released players.
