Five players were retained by the Chennai Super Kings before the IPL 2025 Auction. The franchise spent 65 crore and retained MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana. They will go into the auction with 55 crores. CSK can now use one Right to Match card thanks to the five retentions.
One of the most surprising releases from the camp of the five-time IPL champions was of Deepak Chahar. The 32-year-old pacer has been part of the franchise since 2018, but was not retained by them this time, which raised a few questions. However, Chahar has shown hope and stated that the franchise will bid for him and wish to see him play for them. In 2022 also, Chahar was released ahead of the IPL mega auction and was then bought back by the team for 14 crore.
TOI quoted Deepak Chahar saying,
“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.”
Chahar further stated that he has proved how valuable he can be in limiting runs in that phase of the game. “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.
Although Chahal was bought for 14 crore ahead of IPL 2022, he did not feature in any match that season due to injury. Chahar has been a part of CSK’s three title wins in 2018, 2021 and 2023. During the initial stages of his career, Chahar was seen as a death-over specialist, but because of his ability to swing, he was given the responsibility of bowling in powerplay.