Predicted IPL 2022 Squad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK): The reigning champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a complete turnaround in the last edition following their upsetting show in the IPL 2020 in the UAE. In fact, CSK was the first team to get knocked out of the tournament, however, in the IPL 2021, we saw an entirely different CSK squad.
MS Dhoni-led CSK won the IPL 2021 in the UAE and become the IPL champions for the fourth time. Now they are just one trophy short of equalling Mumbai Indians, who have five till date.
The upcoming Tata IPL 2022 will be more important for the yellow brigade as there will be a huge transition in the team. MS Dhoni would leave the side, though he hasn’t announced yet, however, the pundits highly predict that Dhoni is going to feature in his final IPL assignment in 2022.
Ahead of that, CSK will face the mega auction challenge, scheduled on 12th and 13th February in Bangalore. The franchise would be in a planning phase to pen down the list of potential candidates that can be brought during the auction.
However, before that, CSK retained the likes of Ravindra Jadeja (INR 16 Crores), MS Dhoni (INR 12 Crores), Moeen Ali (INR 8 Crores) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 4 Crores).
CSK would form their entire squad around these four retained players. The team in yellow believes in a mix of experience and youngsters, with seasoned campaigners occupying more percentage in the squad. We believe the franchise would stick to its success mantra once again in the edition of the mega auction.
In this very article, we will take you through the top predicted IPL 2022 squad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Predicted IPL 2022 Squad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Batsman – Faf du Plessis, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Tripathi, Manish Pandey, N Jagadeesan
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would firstly try to retain their own players who were released due to the mega auction 2022.
Faf du Plessis formed a great opening pair with Ruturaj Gaikwad in the last two IPL editions. Both the batsman plundered big runs for the team and provided solid starts. Du Plessis was released due to the restrictions of the mega auction and CSK would certainly bid for him and get his services.
Following MS Dhoni’s exit, CSK would require an experienced wicketkeeper-batsman, who can easily tackle tricky situations and Englishmen Jonny Bairstow is the right man to fulfil the job. Bairstow has been sensational for his previous franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. Moreover, he can also play as the opener if CSK fails to acquire Faf du Plessis in the mega auction.
Rahul Tripathi and Manish Pandey will also be on CSK’s radar for the IPL 2022. While Tripathi had a memorable IPL season in 2021, Pandey had a roller coaster ride in that very season.
Manish Pandey could only make his place in 8 IPL 2021 matches in which he scored 292 runs. However, looking at his overall IPL journey, Pandey is a dependable middle-order batsman who can control the situation and also soak in pressure and score runs for the team.
Tripathi, on the other hand, scored 397 runs from 17 IPL 2021 appearances for KKR. His services were missed by KKR in the IPL 2021 final, as he sustained a hamstring injury and couldn’t bat for long. CSK can bag Rahul Tripathi as a number three batsman or he could be a backup option for the number three choice.
Talking about CSK’s local batsman, N Jagadeesan would be on the target. Though Jagadeesan hasn’t got many opportunities, however, the batsman showed useful signs in the domestics. He won’t be expensive as he is still uncapped.
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Bowlers – Deepak Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Trent Boult, R Ashwin
Young Indian pacer Deepak Chahar was associated with CSK since 2018, however, the speedster couldn’t make a clear cut place for him in the retention list. Nevertheless, Chahar has shown promising signs in the recent past with both bat and ball. He was CSK’s first choice pacer in the powerplays and often provides initial breakthroughs.
CSK bowlers used to concede a lot of runs in the final overs, and IPL 2022 mega auction would be the time to solve the concern. South African pacer Kagiso Rabada will be the right choice for Chennai to pick at the mega auction. Rabada is a bowler with all pleasing traits. He can serve CSK with a tight spell in the death and can also deliver a few overs in powerplays or in the middle of the innings.
Kiwi pacer Trent Boult is another such pacer, however, Boult is more known to be the pacer who targets upfront at the start of the innings. Playing for Mumbai Indians (MI), his role was to provide breakthroughs in the powerplays and he succeeded in that.
In the case of the domestic option, former SRH pacer T Natarajan will be an option to look for. Natarajan came to the limelight for his deceiving slower balls at the backend of the innings in the IPL 2020. His brilliant IPL 2020 season fetched in India’s maiden call-up.
As far as spinners are concerned, the yellow brigade should aim at R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav. Former DC spinner R Ashwin was highly successful despite bowling in the toughest overs. Moreover, Ashwin has expressed his will to once again enter the CSK dressing room and play under MS Dhoni.
Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, has seen a decline in his performance ever since MS Dhoni took retirement from international cricket. He used to enjoy the inputs given by MS Dhoni from behind the wickets in international matches. If CSK gets Yadav, the contract might change the fortunes of the spinner.
All-rounders – Shardul Thakur, Jimmy Neesham
The four-time IPL champions need not bother a lot about their all-rounders, as they have retained the elite services of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja. However, both the aforementioned are spin bowling all-rounders, CSK would need a pace all-rounder option as well and Shardul Thakur is the first guy to look at.
Thakur has shown promising signs lately. He has accepted his all rounder’s role with responsibility and we can see the results. For India, Thakur consistently picks wickets and also deliver a good performance with willow in hand.
The other option would be the likes of Jimmy Neesham. The kiwi all-rounder is also a tested option to go with. Neesham featured in three matches for MI in the IPL 2021 where he picked up five crucial wickets. But his performance with the bat remained disappointing.
Wicketkeepers – Jonny Bairstow, Robin Uthappa
Besides MS Dhoni, England’s Jonny Bairstow is a good wicketkeeping prospect for CSK. As mentioned earlier, Bairstow can be used in the middle order as well as in the opening slot.
Seasoned batsman Robin Uthappa can be another choice CSK can try. He can be used as a wicketkeeper and an opener or middle-order batsman. His prowess with the bat can be estimated by his flamboyant performance in the IPL 2021 final for CSK.
Uthappa scored 31 runs from 15 balls and gave a much required rampant path to CSK to set a mammoth total for Kolkata Kingit Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2021 final.
Predicted IPL 2022 Squad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK):
Batsman – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Tripathi, Manish Pandey, N Jagadeesan
Bowlers – Deepak Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Trent Boult, R Ashwin
All-rounders – Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Jimmy Neesham, Shardul Thakur
Wicketkeeper – MS Dhoni, Jonny Bairstow, Robin Uthappa.
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