IPL Team Preview: CSK
Team Name:- Chennai Super Kings
Captain:- MS Dhoni
Chennai Super Kings finished on top of the table last season with 11 wins out of their 16 games. They were tied on points with Mumbai Indians but they were on top as they had a superior Net Run Rate. CSK lost the finals to Mumbai Indians by 23 runs which ended their dreams of 3 IPL trophies. They will face the well-settled Kings 11 Punjab in their opening game on 18th April,2014. With the teams undergoing almost a complete makeover this time around, it remains to be seen how the new teams fare as a unit.
Chennai Super Kings Squad for IPL 7
CSK, the most consistent and successful team of IPL so far, retained 5 players going into the IPL 7 Auction. Having retained Dhoni,Raina,Jadeja,Ashwin,Dwayne Bravo , CSK surprised many by selecting the ageing run machine(pun intended) Ashish Nehra. They also bought Brendon Mccullum and Faf du Plessis which were good decisions. They also bought Samuel Badree, the economical spinner from the West Indies who did very well in the ICC WT20 2014.
Squad strength: 20
Costliest player: Faf du Plessis Rs 4.75 crores
Amount spent: Rs 59.8 crores (Rs 20 lakhs remaining)
Overseas players: 8
Batsmen: 5. Bowlers: 9. All-rounders: 4. Wicketkeepers: 2
| Player | Type | Price Paid |
| MS DHONI | Wicket Keeper | Retained |
| R Jadeja | All Rounder | Retained |
| R Ashwin | Bowler | Retained |
| D Bravo | All Rounder | Retained |
| S Raina | Batsman | Retained |
| Faf Du Plessis | Batsman | ₹4,75,00,000 |
| Dwayne Smith | Batsman | ₹4,50,00,000 |
| Brendon McCullum | Wicket Keeper | ₹3,25,00,000 |
| Ashish Nehra | Bowler | ₹2,00,00,000 |
| Mohit Sharma | Bowler | ₹2,00,00,000 |
| Ishwar Chandra Pandey | Bowler | ₹1,50,00,000 |
| Ben Hilfenhaus | Bowler | ₹1,00,00,000 |
| John Hastings | All-Rounder | ₹50,00,000 |
| Samuel Badree | Bowler | ₹30,00,000 |
| Matt Henry | Bowler | ₹30,00,000 |
| Mithun Manhas | All-Rounder | ₹30,00,000 |
| Vijay Shankar | All-Rounder | ₹10,00,000 |
| Ronit More | Bowler | ₹10,00,000 |
| Baba Aparajith | Batsman | ₹10,00,000 |
| Pawan Negi | Bowler | ₹10,00,000 |
Last year’s Strategy: Murli Vijay and Hussey were the main men to look up to at the top of the order. Raina and Dhoni played vital parts whenever needed. At their home ground,they looked up to spinners Jadeja and Ashwin to provide resistance to the opposing team.
This year’s Strategy: It can be observed that Chennai have managed to get back 11 from their previous year’s squad. They may not have picked the stable Subramaniam Badrinath this year, but have a younger replacement in the from of Mithun Manhas. They may have lost Hussey and Vijay, but now they have Faf du Plessis and Brendon Mccullum to open the batting for them. Ashwin and Jadeja will be crucial on the tracks in Chennai like before. Thus, the overall balance of the side remains good as before. If there was a problem, it was their fast bowling last year and this time they have done well to pick numerous options in Ishwar Pandey, Matt Henry and Ashish Nehra. In Dwayne Smith and John Hastings, they have a good back-up for Dwayne Bravo.
Possible Best Playing 11:
1. Brendon McCullum (OVERSEAS)
2. Faf du Plessis (OVERSEAS)
3. Suresh Raina
4. Dwayne Bravo (OVERSEAS)
5. Ravindra Jadeja
6. MS Dhoni (c) (WICKETKEEPER)
7. Mithun Manhas/Baba Aparajith
8. R Ashwin
9. Ashish Nehra
10. Matt Henry (OVERSEAS)
11. Mohit Sharma
Availability:
NO INTERNATIONAL DUTIES FOR ANY OF CSK’S PLAYERS IN BETWEEN IPL. SO,FULL STRENGTH SQUAD AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION.
