Last Updated on 3 years by Charbel Coorey
4 players CSK should retain for IPL 2022 | 4 players Chennai Super Kings should retain ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction
After the ICC T20 World Cup, the next big event in the world of white-ball cricket Mega Auction for IPL 2022, the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League. The auction will be in December this year and teams can only retain up to four players (3 Indian + 1 overseas or 2 Indian + 2 overseas players).
There will be two new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad and no Right to Match (RTM) cards for this mega auction. The two new teams can select three players from the player pool before the auction.
The last date to submit the details of the retained players is 30 November. Teams will be sure to do all kinds of permutations and combinations before retaining the players.
We’ll list four players which we think every franchise should retain before the mega auction. Let’s start with the current and the 4-time champions, the Chennai Super Kings.
4 Players CSK Should Retain for IPL 2022
CSK is arguably the most consistent side in IPL history. They have won the title four times, are the runners-up on five occasions, and have qualified for the play-offs 11 times out of the 12 seasons they’ve played. They won the title this year after a very poor show in 2020.
CSK has a very settled squad and it will be a little tricky for them to choose their four retentions as most of their players are over 35 years old and teams generally build a core for the future in the mega auctions.
1. MS Dhoni
Harsha Bhogle once said, “Dhoni is CSK and CSK is Dhoni” and this statement is very true as everything about CSK revolves around their “Thala”. Dhoni is the face and heart of CSK. He has led CSK to four titles and has a phenomenal record as a captain and batsman in the IPL.
Although he isn’t the same as he used to be a few years ago with the bat, his leadership skills are unmatchable and CSK’s triumph in IPL 2021 is the best example of that. Plus, in Qualifier 1 against DC this year, he showed that he hasn’t completely lost his touch with the bat.
It is still unknown whether he’ll play the next season or not. However, if he decides to continue playing (which we assume will be the case), then he will be the first retained player for CSK for IPL 2022.
2. Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja should be CSK’s second retention. Jadeja has been a very crucial part of CSK over the years and has been in terrific form for the last two seasons. He scored 227 runs in 12 innings in IPL 2021 at an excellent average of 75.66 and strike rate of 145.5.
He has been terrific with the bat and is doing what Dhoni used to do in the past, i.e. finishing games for CSK. Jadeja did well with the ball as well picking 13 wickets in 16 games at an economy of 7.06 in CSK’s successful campaign.
Jadeja is experienced and provides all-round value including his world class fielding. There should not be any doubts for the CSK management about retaining him.
3. Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad had a horrible start to his IPL career in 2020. Firstly, he got infected with the Coronavirus and then had a string of low scores to kickstart his career.
However, CSK management backed him despite that, and he finally showed “spark” in CSK’s last three games of IPL 2020, scoring consecutive half-centuries.
This wasn’t all. He then scored most runs in IPL 2021 and won the Orange cap. Ruturaj scored 635 in 16 matches at an average of 45.35 at a strike-rate of 136.26 including a brilliant century and four fifties.
Ruturaj is young and will be a great choice for the new core of Indian players for CSK and he will play in the yellow jersey in IPL 2022.
4. Moeen Ali
There is a lot of talk on who should CSK retain between Moeen Ali and Faf du Plessis. Faf had an exceptional IPL 2021. He was the second highest run-scorer, scoring 633 runs at an average of 45.21 and strike rate of 138.20 including six 50+ scores.
However, there are a few reasons why I think that CSK should retain Moeen Ali.
First is the value that Moeen Ali brings in the CSK 11. He batted at number three in the first half of IPL 2021 and did a great job. Moeen attacked from the word go and scored runs at a good average and a very high strike-rate in the middle-overs, which CSK lacked in IPL 2020. He bowls as well and now with Suresh Raina being out of form with the bat, CSK may look to replace him with Moeen at three.
Another reason is that it will be easier for CSK to buy back Faf from the auction as Moeen has been in red hot form recently and will most probably go at a higher price than Faf.
And, even if CSK fails to buy back Faf, then they can buy someone like Robin Uthappa who played a vital role in the crunch games of IPL 2021. Or, CSK could look at a young player like C Hari Nishanth who will come at a much cheaper price than Faf.
I myself being a hardcore CSK fan understand the connect that CSK fans have with the players that do well for the franchise and it’s hard to see them play for any other team but given the situation, retaining Moeen Ali over Faf seems to be the logical decision.
Also, if MS Dhoni decides to hang his boots from the IPL as well then CSK can retain Faf and Moeen both alongside Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad. When the time comes, we will eventually get to know which four players CSK will retain and whether Dhoni will continue playing or not.
Written by Robin Rounder. Follow Robin on Twitter today.
