Chennai Super Kings are set to make some much expected yet big changes to their squad for the upcoming IPL season. According to reports, the three time IPL champions are set to release veteran league spinner Piyush Chawla and the Tamil Nadu batsman Murali Vijay.
The Chennai franchise had slipped past their usual standards by failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in all the years they have played in the T20 league. With most of the players in the squad getting past their prime and not featuring at the international stage, some big changes had already been hinted by the CSK management as their IPL 2020 journey came to an early end.
World Cup 2011 winner with India, Piyush Chawla was bought by CSK in last season’s auction at the Rs. 6.75 crore, making him the most expensive buy of CSK for the auction. It is also almost certain that CSK will let go of Murali Vijay, who was once a star opener for the franchise, has failed to fire in the few opportunities that he has been given since CSK made their return to IPL in 2018 following a two year ban. Vijay has only amassed 108 runs in the 6 games that he has played for CSK since 2018.
Former India off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh also took to Twitter to thank CSK for his time at the franchise, so it is likely that he will not be part of the team’s new plans.
Harbhajan Singh thanks the CSK franchise with his contract coming to an end! #IPL #IPL2021 #CSK #yellove #Harbhajan #cricketnews pic.twitter.com/fjwo9P1Emw
— Cricket News (@cricketnews_com) January 20, 2021
As Cricbuzz reports, releasing few players such as Chawla and Vijay might free up good funds for CSK who are already having the least amount in their purse out of all the eight franchises.
It has also been suggested that the Tamil Nadu based franchise might also release vice-captain Suresh Raina and Kedar Jadhav. While Suresh Raina had pulled out of IPL 2020 due to personal reasons, Kedar Jadhav faced the flak from CSK fans for his poor display with the bat in the games that he featured for CSK. It is however a call that will be taken by the captain MS Dhoni.
For the next edition of the league scheduled to take place in the usual calendar time in India, all eight teams have been asked to release their final retention list by January 20.