IPL 2021: Which players will be released, retained by Chennai Super Kings?

Chennai Super Kings endured a tough time in IPL 2020 as they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in history. MS Dhoni's team finished seventh in the points table and although they ended the tournament with three consecutive wins, their campaign was marred with problems right from the beginning. Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina withdrew from the tournament after 13 members of the squad were infected with the coronavirus. Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad were the two players who were infected with the coronavirus. With Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina out, Chennai Super Kings lost two of their most experienced players. MS Dhoni also struggled with his batting and he failed to match his finishing prowess that he showed in 2018. 

With the retirement of Shane Watson, the Chennai Super Kings team must now fill some vacancies. Heading into the IPL 2021 auction, Chennai Super Kings have the least purse price in the auction with just Rs 15 lakhs. It will make sense for MS Dhoni's team to release a few players and ensure that they get new blood in the side as they prepare for the mega-overhaul in 2022 with the IPL mega-auction. Here is an explainer on the players that might be retained and released from the Chennai Super Kings franchise, the three-time champions of the IPL. 

Chennai Super Kings squad in IPL 2020

MS Dhoni (captain), Ambati Rayudu, K Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Jagadeesan Narayan, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina, Josh Hazlewood, Piyush Chawla, R Sai Kishore, Sam Curran.

Players that could be retained

The players that could be retained by Chennai Super Kings heading into IPL 2021 is MS Dhoni, Sam Curran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur. Although Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh withdrew from the tournament, there is a big question mark on Harbhajan Singh as to whether he will be retained by Chennai Super Kings. Suresh Raina might be retained as he will be a vital player in the Chennai Super Kings team when it comes to batting.

Players that could be released

Since the minimum base price of a player is Rs 20 lakh, Chennai Super Kings' purse of Rs 15 lakhs will not even allow them to make one bid. Recently, there are reports that Chennai Super Kings have moved on from Kedar Jadhav, indicating that he might be released. Kedar Jadhav had a poor IPL 2020 and his fitness issues have proved to be a major hindrance. According to a report on InsideSport, the likes of Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Imran Tahir and Dwayne Bravo might be released.

Piyush Chawla was the most expensive buy in the IPL 2020 auction with Rs 6.5 crore and his release might give Chennai Super Kings some breathing space when it comes to buying in the auction. Karn Sharma was also purchased for Rs 5 crore while Kedar Jadhav was bought for Rs 7.8 crore. If they release these three players, and with Shane Watson also retiring, then Chennai Super Kings will have enough funds to build a team from scratch.