IPL 2020 auction: Full list of players retained and released by CSK

MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings have released only 6 players and will be entering IPL 2020 player auction with an available purse of Rs 14.60 crore

Three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have released only six players from their last season’s squad ahead of the IPL 2020 players’ auction on December 19 in Kolkata.

The franchise, led by veteran wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni, has persisted with its philosophy of backing the same set of players. CSK, panned by some as ‘Daddy’s Army’, for most of their players are above the age of 35, have released David Willey, Scott Kuggeleijn, Sam Billings, Dhruv Shorey, Mohit Sharma, and Chaitanya Bishnoi. They have just five slots to fill through IPL 2020 auctions, and an available purse of Rs 14.60 crore.

Chennai Super Kings’ three titles and five runner-up finishes indicate their consistency in the Indian T20 cricket extravaganza, and vindicate their idea of backing experienced players. The team gets its batting strength from the experience of Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis at the top, and left-hander Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni in the middle order. In bowling, they have the spin trio of Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner and Ravindra Jadeja who enjoy delivering at spin-friendly Chepauk Stadium.

Here is the full list of players retained, traded and released by Chennai Super Kings:

Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2020 squad

Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Jagadeesan Narayan, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh, MS Dhoni, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina

Players released by Chennai Super Kings

Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey, Dhruv Shorey, Mohit Sharma, Sam Billings, Scott Kuggeleijn

Players traded by Chennai Super Kings

None.