Generally, when we talk about the most expensive players of CSK, we talk about MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina and that’s because of their current salaries, but Dhoni and Raina were bought by CSK only in the first-ever auction. Their current salaries are not based on the amount that they were bought for, it’s actually based on the fact that both of them have been retained by CSK ahead of every auction after the first season.
Today we will talk about 6 players who were bought at the highest price by CSK in the IPL auctions –
1. Ravindra Jadeja – 9.72 Crores
Ravindra Jadeja was bought by CSK ahead of IPL 2012 at a price of 2 million dollars. With that amount, the southpaw became the highest-paid CSK player as even MS Dhoni wasn’t getting that much salary at that stage of the IPL. CSK, thereafter, never let Jadeja go into the auction again and kept retaining him every season.
Jadeja currently is the first choice player in the CSK XI after the skipper Dhoni and his form with the bat in IPL 2020 was commendable.
2. Krishnappa Gowtham – 9.25 Crores
Chennai Super Kings went hard for K Gowtham at the IPL 2021 Auctions. Having released Harbhajan Singh, the franchise needed a domestic right-arm off-spinner. It would have been helpful if the player can contribute with the bat. MSD usually likes multi-dimensional cricketers and Gowtham was ticking all the boxes. Hence, the Chennai-based outfit broke the bank and made Gowtham their most expensive buy of the auctions. In turn, the Karnataka all-rounder also became the most expensive uncapped player in IPL history.
3. Kedar Jadhav – 7.8 Crores
CSK paid 7.8 Crore INR for Kedar Jadhav ahead of IPL 2018 and it seemed a fair price at that stage given the fact that Kedar was playing some of his best cricket at the international level, but he turned out to be a flop signing for the franchise as he couldn’t even score a half-century in his 3-year stint with the men in yellow.
4. Andrew Flintoff – 7.55 Crores
Andrew Flintoff was another player who received a higher salary than Dhoni in IPL 2009 as he was bought at an amount of 1.55 million dollars. Flintoff, however, didn’t prove to be a fruitful addition to the CSK set-up and didn’t put on any match-winning performances with either bat or ball. The former England captain then got ruled out mid-way through the season as well.
5. Piyush Chawla – 6.75 Crores
Piyush Chawla was another player who was signed by CSK with high hopes. Chawla had been a consistent performer at his previous franchise KKR and it was believed that he would add a lot of depth to the spin reserves of CSK and would also provide a domestic option in the bowling department which will then allow the team management to play an extra overseas batsman or an extra overseas all-rounder.
Chawla was preferred in the playing XI in the initial games of IPL 2020 ahead of Imran Tahir, but he couldn’t live up to the expectations at all and was dropped midway through the tournament as CSK suffered quite a few losses. It’s very likely now that Chawla might not be retained next season.
6. Dwayne Bravo – 6.4 Crores
Dwayne Bravo was back in the auction again as CSK retained only MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja on their comeback to IPL in 2018. The other teams showed interest in Bravo in the auction and eventually Kings XI Punjab ended up buying him at an amount of 6.4 Crore INR, but then CSK used their Right To Match (RTM) card which was available to every franchise and bought Bravo at the same price Punjab had bought him at.
Bravo, although he has not been at his best in the last 3 years, still put on some decent performances for CSK, particularly in IPL 2018 where he won a match against Mumbai out of nowhere at the Wankhede Stadium. Bravo, however, might be another player who is released by CSK ahead of the next mini-auction.
