سيناريو مزاد IPL: CSK ليست في وضع يمكنها من شراء Washington Sundar، ويجب أن تستقر على R Ashwin

At the upcoming IPL Auction 2025, all eyes will be on CSK table, who would be looking to rebuild their team after the 2024 debacle. They finished fifth under new skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, and weren’t at their best, to put it mildly. Eventually, at the IPL Retention, they kept — MS Dhoni, Matheesha Pathirana, Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shivam Dube, and have a purse of INR 55 Cr left in their purse.

Now, it is clear that the team cannot afford a star Indian player for more than 17-18 Cr, and the player they might need, will not come in less than that. At the IPL Auction, CSK need a successor to MS Dhoni — but Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul might just be over their budget. In fact, CEO Kasi Viswanathan had clarified team’s stance, saying they would eye their 2024 season players, and also will see that they don’t end up spending a fortune on player only.

So these two gentlemen, big names of Indian cricket are ruled out. Then there were also murmurs, that the team might be interested in Mohammed Shami and James Anderson. The Englishman might still suit them as they need a pace spear head, but once again, Shami will be too costly for them, who is retuning after injury struggles.

Lastly, it looks certain that they would bid for Washington Sundar. Ever since the IND vs NZ series, he is a hot commodity, as his stocks in batting and bowling, have both gone up. He fits well at CSK, where he fills in as a finisher, and even someone who can bowl with the new ball, and economically too. In 60 IPL matches, he has an economy of only 7.54.

But then along with CSK, teams likes SRH, PBKS, and RCB could spark a bidding war for Washington Sundar, at the Nov 24, 25 IPL Auction. Instead, the team should be looking at getting R Ashwin, who is a proven performer for them. He has played for the CSK till 2015, and picked up 90 wickets too.

Overall, in 212 matches he has picked up 180 wickets with an overall economy rate of 7.12. So, he too is an excellent option for the team.