Deepak Chahar (Photo source: CSK)
Chennai Super Kings retained five players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Matheesha Pathirana, and Shivam Dube were retained as the franchise shed 65 crore and will enter the auction with 55 crore in their purse. The five retentions have also allowed the five-time champions the option of using one Right to Match card.
The surprising release from the CSK camp was that of pacer, Deepak Chahar. The right-arm pacer has been associated with the team since 2018 and his being left out, raised many eyebrows. But the 32-year-old has exuded optimism and stated that the franchise will bid for him and wishes to see himself in yellow colors again. It is worth noting that, Chahar was released ahead of IPL 2022 mega auctions and was bought back for 14 crore.
“I was not retained by them in the last mega auction as well. But they went all out for me and bought me back. I don’t know what will happen this year, but I know my skill will be valued more now given the fact that around 90-100 runs are being scored in the Powerplay and that’s why the teams are scoring more than 200 more frequently. I have proved how valuable I can be in limited runs in that phase of the game,” said Chahar as quoted by TOI.
“I think they will bid for me again. I would like to don the yellow jersey again and if not that, then I would want Rajasthan Royals to bid for me,” he added.
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Though Chahar was bought for a whopping 14 crore ahead of IPL 2022, he could not feature in the edition due to injury. He has been part of CSK’s three title wins in 2018, 2021 and 2023. Moreover, he was seen as a deathover at the start of his career but was also preferred to bowl in the powerplay owing to his ability to swing the ball.