Chennai Super Kings is one of the most successful franchises in the history of the IPL. They had a good auction last year as they bought the kind of players they wanted. They were going hard for Australia’s Glenn Maxwell but had to back out as Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for 14.25 CR. Having said that, CSK spent big money on a couple of players in the last auction.
CSK has some players on their list before the auction and they try to go all out for those players. They have used a similar strategy in the past which has helped them get some good players in their team. So, on that note, let’s have a look at the five most expensive buys by Chennai Super Kings in IPL history.
5. Moeen Ali – 7 CR
As mentioned earlier, CSK was going for Glenn Maxwell but had to back out as they had a lesser purse than RCB who bought him for 14.25 CR. Once they missed out on Maxwell, Moeen Ali was the player next on their list. Once again CSK started bidding for Moeen Ali from the start.
Punjab Kings backed out of the bidding war and CSK got Moeen Ali for 7 CR. They just had one overseas slot and they were looking for a batsman who could bowl a bit. Moeen Ali can be a handy bowler and he is an explosive T20 batsman.
4. Andrew Flintoff – 7.6 CR
For the English all-rounder, we have to go back to 2009 where Andrew Flintoff was the star attraction in the auction. Most players wanted Flintoff in their team as he was a quick bowler who could also be an explosive batsman in the middle or lower middle-order.
Most of the teams went for the English all-rounder but in the end, Chennai Super Kings bought him for 1.55 million dollars which were close to 7.6 CR in those days. This move didn’t work as he played only three games and didn’t have any impact for CSK.
3. Kedar Jadhav – 7.8 CR
In the 2018 IPL Mega Auction, CSK was looking for middle-order batsmen and they had got Ambati Rayudu in the mix. They went after Kedar Jadhav who has played a lot of white-ball cricket alongside MS Dhoni. CSK managed to buy Kedar Jadhav for 7.8 CR in the 2018 Mega Auction.
Jadhav got injured after one game in the 2018 season, and his performance was not up to the mark in IPL 2019 and 2020. They had to release him before the upcoming auction as they had overpaid for him.
2. Ravindra Jadeja – 9.2 CR
In the 2012 IPL Auction which was a Mini one, Ravindra Jadeja was the only attraction. Most of the teams had a very small purse as there weren’t many star players in the auction. Ravindra Jadeja’s name came up and Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers got into a tiebreaker as both the teams hit the maximum price of 2 million dollars.
CSK got Jadeja for an undisclosed amount but the Indian all-rounder received 2 million dollars which got converted to 9.2 CR. It turned out to be a great move as he is still an integral part of the CSK setup.
1. Krishnappa Gowtham – 9.25 CR
Chennai Super Kings needed an off-spinner as they had released Harbhajan Singh just before this auction. Krishnappa Gowtham was one of the off-spinners available in the market and he was going to be in high demand. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings got into a bidding war and SRH had to back out as they had only a purse of 10.75 CR.
Chennai Super Kings managed to get the Karnataka all-rounder for 9.25 CR which is their most expensive player in the history of the IPL. Gowtham even became the most expensive uncapped player in the history of the IPL.
