Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey

IPL Auction 2021: 3 players CSK can release | Which players should CSK release before the Indian Premier League Auction 2021

2020 was a peculiar year. The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill and post-lockdown, citizens across the world accepted a new normal which included a plethora of unusual things.

One such absurd event happened in the Indian Premier League 2020 as the Chennai Super Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in the lucrative tournament’s history. The franchise had its own issues even before the tournament began as there were several Covid-19 cases in their camp. Among players, Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad tested positive for the disease.

When the 8-team tourney began, CSK got off to a tough start with just a solitary win in the first four matches and at one stage had three wins in 11 matches. They were the first team to get eliminated from IPL 2020. Ahead of the 2021 edition, the MS Dhoni-led side will make some changes to the squad and there can be players who will be released as the team will plan to replace them in the upcoming auction.

Here is a look at three (3) players who can be released by the 3-time champions.

Imran Tahir

Not long ago, Imran Tahir was one of the best spinners of the Indian Premier League. In IPL 2019, he picked 26 wickets in 17 matches and won the Purple Cap. Just before IPL 2020, Tahir picked 11 wickets in as many games in the CPL at a parsimonious economy rate of 5.8.

The Protea wasn’t CSK’s preferred spinner in the IPL and played a grand total of three matches, picking just a solitary wicket. The leg-spinner will turn 42 in March and there are chances that CSK will release him ahead of the auction.

Kedar Jadhav

Kedar Jadhav had a mediocre IPL 2020 as he scored 62 runs in 8 matches and had a sub-100 strike rate. He was one of the prime reasons why CSK didn’t make the playoffs and was benched in the latter half of the season.

He failed to accelerate in the death overs for the franchise and couldn’t push CSK past the finish line. Kedar Jadhav was bought for 7.8 crores by the Super Kings in the IPL auction in 2018 and hence costs a significant part of the budget to the team.

Releasing him will result in some extra budget on the auction table and give CSK flexibility as the players go under the hammer.

Piyush Chawla

One of the biggest surprises of the IPL 2020 auction was CSK’s buy of Piyush Chawla. The yellow team bought the leg-spinner for 6.75 crores and was expected to be a vital cog in the setup especially at the team’s home ground in Chepauk.

But even in UAE, Chawla started the tournament as Chennai outfit’s lead spinner. But his numbers were ordinary with just 6 wickets in 7 matches and like Jadhav and Tahir he was dropped from the side. Chawla conceded more than 9 RPO and it is unlikely that the franchise will retain him.

Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.