Ranking all 8 teams based on their retentions ahead of IPL 2021 auction

6. Chennai Super Kings

Disaster. Well, that is the word that would come to mind when someone is asked to describe the performance of the Chennai side in the 13th edition of the IPL. For a team that had made it look as if making it to the playoffs was the easiest thing to do in the world, the MS Dhoni-led side got a harsh reality check in the 2020 IPL edition in the UAE. The ‘yellow brigade’ failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time, and finished at sixth place.

They had a lot of ‘aged’ players in the squad who turned out to be liabilities for the franchise. And ahead of the auctions, they have made some sweeping changes. Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Monu Kumar and Harbhajan Singh have been released by the franchise.

And, even after releasing as many as 6 players, the Chennai side is still not a formidable one. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is at the evening of his illustrious career, and possibly has only the reputation that allows him to keep going. The iconic cricketer endured his worst ever IPL season with the willow last year, where he managed to aggregate just 200 runs at a poor average of 25. Dhoni could not even score a single fifty in the whole of IPL 2020.

While Faf Du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo and MS Dhoni are still big names, they are definitely not getting younger. Also, it remains to be seen how much of an impact Suresh Raina will have in the upcoming edition. While Raina’s overall IPL numbers put him in the pantheon of greats in IPL cricket, Raina missed an entire IPL season last year, has now retired from international cricket and is 34 years old. Chennai surely has some work to do, ahead of the 14th IPL edition.