Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was going great guns before the IPL 2021 was postponed midway through the season. It had been a joyful ride for the ‘Men in Yellow', especially after facing disappointment in 2020. Chennai placed second in the Points table with five wins in seven matches. However, as uncertainty looms over the remaining matches in IPL 2021, a lot of teams might begin to ponder over the strategies for the IPL 2022 mega auction. CSK too will have to figure the list of players who they might retain ahead of the likely mega auction in 2022. CSK's list of retained players might throw a few surprises in order to win back their key players even through Right To Match.
On that note, we take a look at 3 unexpected players who can be retained by CSK in IPL 2022:
1. Faf Du Plessis
Faf du Plessis could be one of the three players retained by CSK in IPL 2022. Du Plessis's association with CSK goes back to IPL 2011 where the franchise bought him for $120k at the auction. Ever since the South Africa limited-overs batter has been a formidable part of the CSK setup. Even in IPL 2018, CSK managed to bring him in the mega auction. In the last few years. the CSK opener has been in tremendous touch with the bat. His success in IPL 2021 calls for probable retention by the franchise in IPL 2022.
2. Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina has been an inseparable part of the CSK setup since the inaugural IPL season. The southpaw has had a major role to play in each of CSK's three title-winning campaigns. With over 5000 IPL runs, Suresh Raina remains a legend in this format of the game. Despite retiring from the game in 2020, Raina could still be retained by CSK in IPL 2022. The 34-year missed a complete IPL season in 2020 and the CSK batting struggled to find a solid No.3 in their ranks. His return to IPL in 2021 helped Dhoni and co. to trust other players who could play around him in the middle-order. With still over a couple of IPLs left in him, Raina could be one of the three retained players for CSK.
3. Sam Curran
Sam Curran has shown great potential as a T20 match-winner for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the last two seasons. He has the ability to feature solely for his skills either with bat and ball. While in IPL 2020, CSK used him prominently as a bowler, in 2021, he was given the opportunity to even bat higher in the batting order. Looking at the next three-year period in IPL, CSK could invest faith in considering Curran as one of their core members of the squad. As a result, the English all-rounder might also be a retained feature for CSK in IPL 2022.
