IPL 2020: Full squad of Chennai Super Kings
They were called the 'Daddy Army' when they returned to the Indian Premier League in 2018. However, Dhoni's men defied the odds to lift the IPL title for the third time in the franchise's history. In the next season, CSK lost in the final by the tiniest of margins, as Mumbai Indians registered a one-run victory at Hyderabad. After all the necessary chopping and changing in the squad, the Super Kings are ready to challenge for a fourth IPL title in 2020.
Led by MS Dhoni, the CSK reached the final of the inaugural season of the IPL but were defeated by Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals. However, throughout the league, Dhoni's team emerged as one of the most consistent performers. They won their first title in 2011, and are the only side to win successive IPL tournaments. In addition, the side has reached eight IPL finals so far, which is the highest by any team in the league.
Chennai Super Kings are the only franchise in the IPL who reached the semifinals/play-offs in all the seasons of the IPL. (barring 2016 and 2017 seasons, when they were suspended from participation).
Ahead of the IPL auction, CSK retained almost all of its core players - contrary to the speculations that the franchise could part ways with certain players on age-basis. Among overseas players, only Sam Billings and David Willey were released, while Mohit Sharma, Dhruv Shorey and Chaitanya Bishnoi were the Indian players who parted ways with the 'Yellow Army'.
Among the retained players, while Dhoni continues to lead the side, Suresh Raina is the current vice-captain of CSK. Both the players have played for the franchise since the beginning of the IPL, before parting ways during the two-year period when it was suspended. Kedar Jadhav, Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu were among the key batsman retained by the side, while Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan Singh were among the major retained all-rounders and bowlers respectively.
In the IPL auctions, Chennai Super Kings invested heavily in bowlers. The side acquired the services of Indian spinner Piyush Chawla for 6.75 Cr, who spend a majority of his IPL career at Kolkata Knight Riders. The Chennai Franchise also spent INR 5.5 crore on 21-year-old all-rounder Sam Curran. Josh Hazlewood will represent CSK in the 2020 IPL as well, as the side grabbed him at his base price of INR 2 Crore. They also bought local spinner R Sai Kishore for a base price of INR 20 Lakh.
Here's the full roster of Chennai Super Kings:
RETAINED PLAYERS:
MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Lungi Ngidi, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Narayan Jagadeesan, Harbhajan Singh, KM Asif, Shardul Thakur, Shane Watson, Imran Tahir, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar, Monu Kumar, Karn Sharma.
PLAYERS TRADED IN: NONE
RELEASED PLAYERS:
Sam Billings, David Willey, Mohit Sharma, Dhruv Shorey and Chaitanya Bishnoi.
PLAYERS BOUGHT IN IPL 2020 AUCTION:
Piyush Chawla, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore
FULL SQUAD:
MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Lungi Ngidi, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Narayan Jagadeesan, Harbhajan Singh, KM Asif, Shardul Thakur, Shane Watson, Imran Tahir, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar, Monu Kumar, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore
