Irfan Pathan lays down ‘chief’ target for MS Dhoni’s CSK ahead of IPL 2024 Auction

Chennai Super Kings, the defending champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will look for a major rebuild in the IPL 2024 Auction. After having released 8 players on IPL 2024 Retention Day, MS Dhoni’s CSK needs replacements in some key areas. Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan believes that CSK needs a perfect player at Number 3 to bolster their batting depth.

Speaking to Star Sports ahead of the IPL Auction, Pathan believes that MS Dhoni and Co will need a dependable batter who can feature at Number 3. Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane faired well in the role but faced difficulties in slow pitches.

“Ajinkya Rahane started playing for CSK on the Wankhede pitch. That was his first game and he did really well. After that, he kept his momentum going forward. But they are aware that he is slightly restricted when it comes to slow pitches. So they would want to have a backup for him as well,” Irfan Pathan said.

Also Read

• Virat Kohli away on a 4-month sabbatical from ODIs, T20s
• 4 players in race for India’s keeper-batter slots in T20 WC
• Suryakumar Yadav set to break Virat Kohli’s T20I record for India

With the IPL 2024 Auction fast approaching, CSK will need to devise a good plan and buy suitable targets that will bolster their team a great deal. CSK has a purse of ₹31.40 crore after having released 8 players. However, the need of the hour for CSK still remains the same. They need a perfect Number 3 batter.

“You need to understand that MS Dhoni is not at his peak and he used to bat at No. 8 regularly. Everyone wanted MS Dhoni to bat up the order but he didn’t. Even Dhoni knows that he is not young anymore. So they definitely need a replacement for Ambati Rayudu but they need a good No. 3 batter as well,” Pathan concluded.

Chennai Super Kings Retained Players

MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway (wk), Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana.

Chennai Super Kings Released Players

Ben Stokes, Dwaine Pretorius, K. Bhagath Varma, Subhranshu Senapati, Ambati Rayudu, Kyle Jamieson, Akash Singh, Sisanda Magala.

The post Irfan Pathan lays down ‘chief’ target for MS Dhoni’s CSK ahead of IPL 2024 Auction appeared first on Inside Sport India.