Now that the IPL 2022 mega auction is done and all the teams have their full squads on paper, there are already a lot of discussions going on what would be the potential first-choice XI of most of the teams, particularly the big teams who have won the IPL a number of times and have the biggest fanbase around the country.
Let’s have a look at the predicted strongest XI of CSK for IPL 2022 –
Openers (Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway)
CSK had already retained the last season’s orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad, but they were not able to buy Faf du Plessis who had built a very successful opening partnership quite consistently with Ruturaj last IPL.
However, CSK has managed to buy New Zealand’s Devon Conway who is not as experienced as Du Plessis, but he is an opener of almost the same mould as he plays with a decently healthy strike rate and has been fairly consistent for New Zealand in international cricket so far.
Middle Order (Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu)
Robin Uthappa got his chance quite late last season, but he made his impact straightaway as he played two match-defining innings for CSK in qualifier 1 and the final respectively and had a really key role to play in CSK’s title triumph eventually.
Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu might not be right at the top of the run-scoring charts, but they made many short and effective contributions through the middle order for CSK. They will continue to be the team’s vital cog with the bat in IPL 2022 as well.
Wicketkeeper and allrounders (Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar)
Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni have been CSK’s finishers for a long time now and even though Dhoni is approaching the end of his career, he still finished a high-pressure game for CSK last season when he guided the men in yellow to the final with a brilliant cameo of 18 off 6 balls in qualifier 1.
Jadeja will be CSK’s main finisher as he is at the peak of his career with the bat and he will be supported by Dhoni, Bravo and Deepak Chahar. The latter two will be CSK’s key bowlers as well.
Bowlers (Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Adam Milne)
While Hangargekar was only recently featured in the U19 World Cup for India, Adam Milne has got the experience of playing in many franchise leagues around the world. Both are quick through the air, Milne is a few yards quicker, and both of them can swing the ball if given the new ball.
Apart from what they can do with the ball, Hangargekar and Milne are quite handy with the bat too and if these two play with Chahar, CSK will have decent batting right down till no. 11 in IPL 2022.