CSK releases 6 players, but retains Raina

However, the MS Dhoni-led side has retained 18 players from the previous edition, keeping its core intact. As there is no change in the purse limit of Rs 85 crore, Super Kings will have Rs 22.9 crore to spend at the IPL Season 14 auction. “The team management took the decisions after looking at the performances of the players in the last couple of years. We have retained and released players only on the basis of how they did in the previous seasons,” CSK CEO KS Viswanathan told DT Next. “We are looking to bring in changes to our playing squad. We might pick a few youngsters at the mini auction,” revealed Viswanathan.

While former Australia all-rounder Watson retired from competitive cricket post IPL 2020, off-spinner Harbhajan gave the previous season in the UAE a miss due to personal reasons. Opener Vijay and middle-order batsman Jadhav were horribly out of touch in the 13th edition, combining for a mere 94 runs in 11 matches. Leggie Chawla and medium pacer Monu, who failed to impress last term, also got the axe. There were rumours that last season absentee Suresh Raina might be released, but they were put to bed as Super Kings retained him on deadline day.

Players retained: MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Narayan Jagadeesan, Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, R Sai Kishore, Imran Tahir and Karn Sharma 

Players released: Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh and Monu Kumar Singh