CSK IPL 2021 Auction Analysis: How did they perform?

Retained players: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore

Players bought: K Gowtham (INR 9.25 crore), Moeen Ali (INR 7 crore), Cheteshwar Pujara (INR 50 lakh), K Bhagath Varma (INR 20 lakh), C Hari Nishaanth (INR 20 lakh), M Harisankar Reddy (INR 20 lakh)

Purse remaining: INR 2.55 crore

Best Probable XI: Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, K Gowtham, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

Alternate XI: Moeen Ali, Faf Du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, K Gowtham, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir

The Chennai Super Kings fared well in their hometown as they picked their main targets. The 3-time champions indulged in a bidding war with the Royal Challengers Bangalore for Glenn Maxwell but couldn’t get their hands on the Australian all-rounder.

Instead, they picked Moeen Ali and the Englishman was available at a cheaper price of 7 crores. The all-rounder fits CSK’s requirements as the franchise needed a southpaw as well as an off-spinning bowling all-rounder.

The MS Dhoni-led franchise bought Krishnappa Gowtham for a whopping sum of 9.25 crores and in the process the Karnataka off-spinner became the costliest uncapped player in the history of the IPL auction. The franchise needed a mainstream off-spinner as Harbhajan Singh was released by the franchise. Lack of off-spin options hurt the franchise in the IPL 2020 as they lacked variety in their spin-bowling attack.