Chennai Super Kings have stuck to their formula of buying back their core and haven't made much of a change from the combination that worked for them in a largely successful 2018-21 cycle.
The 4 time champions could not buy back every player they wanted from last season, they still managed to pick up skilled players to ensure their combination would not be affected.
Purse entered: INR 48 crore
Purse left: INR 2.95 crore
Biggest buys: Deepak Chahar (INR 14 crore), Ambati Rayudu (INR 6.75 crore), Dwayne Bravo(INR 4.40 crore)
Devon Conway can act as a replacement for Faf, Shivam Dube as a more batting-oriented version of Shardul Thakur, and Adam Milne a pacier replacement for Josh Hazlewood. Fast bowling allrounder Rajvardhan Hangargekar who was part of the U-19 world cup winning team is an exciting prospect. CSK would have walked out of the auction as one of the happier teams.
One of the causes of concern could be that they may have possibly have fancied a more established overseas opener and also the players such as Dhoni and Bravo who are reaching the twilight of their careers. The departure of Suresh Raina and Faf and a lack of a quality leg spinner could be their Achilles heel this season
Squad list:
Ravindra Jadeja (R), MS Dhoni (R), Ruturaj Gaikwad (R), Moeen Ali (R), Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Shubhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma