The auction for the IPL 2019 edition had a total of 60 players sold comprising of 40 players are from India and 20 from overseas. The bidding battles were intense but Chennai Super Kings management were the most relaxed amongst the eight franchises.

Even though the CSK auction table was inactive, their tweets were on fire throughout the action. The reason CSK was the most relaxed team in the auction is because they hardly had any players to be added to their existing balanced squad. In fact, they didn’t have a single foreign player slot left to buy in the auction. The two additional players to the squad are Mohit Sharma and Ruturaj Singh.

Chennai Super Kings Squad –

Batsmen – Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Dhruv Shorey, Ruturaj  Gaikwad

All Rounders – Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Kedar Jadhav, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Ravindra Jadeja, David Willey, Mitchell Santner, Monu Kumar

Wicket Keepers – MS Dhoni, Sam Billings, N Jagadeesan

Bowlers – Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Mohit Sharma, KM Asif

Team Composition and Analysis –

Not much to add to the team composition and analysis with only two additions to the squad. Chennai Super Kings have been one of the most dominating sides in the tournament, and the reason they are successful is consistency of the side. You won’t see MS Dhoni making frequent changes to the playing XI. Instead, he will start of the season by keeping a well-balanced side and continuing with the same throughout. CSK has a favorable chance of defending the title because of less additions and changes. They know their game plan quite well with the past season’s experience and will continue with the same, in order to dominate like they’ve always done.

The opening duo of Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson who were in top class form last year will have a huge role to play in CSK’s win. They have Mr. IPL – Suresh Raina, Finisher MSD and all-rounder – Dwayne Bravo that formulates a perfect batting lineup. Spinners Harbhajan, Tahir and Jadeja makes the bowling attack strong. Although they have options like Shardul Thakur, Ngidi and Mohit Sharma, the pace bowling attack is something CSK will have to look upon as some of them can turn out to be expensive.

Ratings –

Batting – 8/10

All rounders – 7/10

Bowling – 6/10

Let us know your thoughts on CSK’s team and if they have a chance to defend the title.