The Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) auctions, scheduled for December 19 in Dubai, are rapidly approaching. For the forthcoming IPL season, every team—including MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK)—has unique requirements. After the IPL 2023 final, Ambati Rayudu and other prominent players announced their retirement, which will present issues for Chennai, the winners of their fifth IPL trophy last year.
Rayudu must now be replaced by someone for CSK, especially at the vital batting positions of numbers four or five. Ravi Ashwin, a former CSK player, suggested Karun Nair as Rayudu’s potential successor. According to Ashwin, Karun Nair is an excellent fit for CSK because of his experience, ability to manage spin, and ability to play both middle and upper orders.
“They (CSK) are trying to find someone to take Ambati Rayudu‘s place. He cannot be replaced at No. 4 by Shahrukh Khan. I’m not sure who will fill that role for them this season. They might attempt a left-hand option, but CSK has never invested in an unproven product based on their past performance. They have never taken on a player who just excelled in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy debut season. So prepare to see Karun Nair in yellow, people,” Ashwin posted on his YouTube page.
According to Ashwin, MS Dhoni likes hitters who can play in the middle of the order at No. 4, particularly those who are adept at handling spin. He emphasized Karun Nair abilities, which could be useful for CSK, such as his ability to sweep and reverse sweep.
He is a skilled spin player with the ability to sweep and reverse sweep. Particularly in Chennai, MS Dhoni adores having a batsman who can bat between the top order and the middle order at the No. 4 spot. Karun Nair seems ideal for it, in my opinion. Although Karun Nair, as you may recall, scored a triple hundred in a Test match held in Chennai, I haven’t really seen Manish Pandey use spin much there,” Ashwin continued.
CSK will be buying six players with a substantial budget of 31.40 crores as they get ready for the auctions. In addition to getting a reliable middle-order batsman, they should concentrate on picking up some quick bowlers at the auction.