IPL 2024 Auction Analysis: Chennai Super Kings find ideal replacements in Mitchell and Rizvi, add variety to pace unit

Chennai Super Kings enter the 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year as the defending champions with MS Dhoni set to continue leading the side. Dhoni was widely expected to hang up his boots after guiding his team to the title in 2023, but the 2011 World Cup-winning captain was confirmed for another season after his named appeared in CSK’s retained players list for 2024.

Read: Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and other top buys in IPL 2024 Auction

The ‘Yellow Army’ right up there with Mumbai Indians as two of the most successful and popular franchises in the history of the IPL, both teams having won five titles each though CSK are comfortably ahead when it comes to appearances in the final.

And while Chennai didn’t quite shell out record amounts the way Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) did for Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins respectively, they did break the bank to secure Daryl Mitchell besides making a millionaire of uncapped Uttar Pradesh batter Sameer Rizvi.

Read | Complete list of players sold and unsold at IPL 2024 Auction

They also made a couple of purchases that could be described as steals, and could prove a game-changer for the franchise down the road.

Pre-auction gaps

The two key developments before the auction were the release of England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India middle-order batter Ambati Rayudu; while Stokes had already indicated his desire to skip the 2024 season, Rayudu had quit the sport after helping CSK win their sixth title earlier this year. Finding replacements for these two players was the priority for captain Dhoni, head coach Stephen Fleming and the rest of the management.

Strengths

That they managed to replace Stokes and Rayudu with New Zealand’s World Cup hero Daryl Mitchell and the relatively unknown Sameer Rizvi has helped make defending champions CSK one of the more complete squads heading into IPL 2024.

Though coach Fleming declined against directly comparing Stokes and Mitchell, both perform important roles in the middle order, at times taking over the finisher’s role. What’s more, Mitchell is a decent seamer too and has two T20 four-fers to his credit and can be relied upon for a crucial breakthrough or two in the middle overs. As for Rizvi, he has been among the standout performers in the UP T20 League as well as in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and is the ideal replacement for Rayudu in the middle order.

Read: Who is Sameer Rizvi, the UP batter who earned Rs 8.4 crore from CSK?

Let’s not forget their bowling department either, with India all-rounder Shardul Thakur returning to the side after a stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, and they also have a potent left-arm quick in Mustafizur Rahman, who is set to don yellow for the first time next year after pink, orange and various shades of blue.

Weaknesses

A lingering concern for the Super Kings is that of finding a successor to skipper Dhoni. They briefly tried doing that in IPL 2022 with Dhoni handing the reins to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, only to take it back when CSK’s fortunes started to nosedive and ‘Thala’ had to go into damage-control mode. Getting Ben Stokes on board was also seen by some as a succession plan of sorts once Dhoni was ready to hang up his boots (or gloves in his case) for good.

Wicketkeeper-batter and opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has exhibited traits of a good leader, guiding the Indian team to the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games in October and could be a candidate down the order, and MSD will gave to take him under his wings and get him ready for the role as early as possible.

Best buy

To get New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, who was among the players expected to fetch massive bids heading into the auction, for just Rs 1.8 crore is what most would define as a steal. Ravindra ended up collecting 578 runs in the tournament — the joint-highest by a New Zealand batter in a single edition of the World Cup, and will be among the players to watch out for in what will be his maiden outing in the IPL.

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur too could be put in this category, going at Rs 4 crore in the end when he could have easily landed a deal worth 10 crore or more, given he’s not just a capped Indian cricketer but someone who was part of their World Cup campaign recently.

Worst buy

Chennai entered the auction with a purse of Rs 31.4 crore and had the cushion to splurge on a couple of important players — hence the combined price of Rs 22.4 spent on Mitchell and Rizvi. However, there might be many who might question the wisdom of handing out a million dollars for Rizvi. It’s up to the 20-year-old Meerut lad to let the bat do the talking in IPL 17 to answer those questions.

Chennai Super Kings’ purchases at IPL 2024: Rachin Ravindra (Rs 1.80 crore), Shardul Thakur (Rs 4 crore), Daryl Mitchell (Rs 14 crore), Sameer Rizvi (Rs 8.40 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs 2 crore), Aravelly Avanish (Rs 20 lakh)

Chennai Super Kings full squad: Ajay Mandal, Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shaik Rasheed, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande

Remaining purse: Rs 1 crore

Remaining slots: 0