IPL Auction 2018: Mahendra Singh Dhoni reveals a special plan

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings which is a making a return to the Twenty20 league after being suspended for the two editions, as its skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday (January 19) has unveiled a special plan for the impending mega auction days.

“A lot of areas are covered when it comes to the top-order. We don’t need to go for more left-handers. We want a lot of local players in CSK,” Dhoni stated in the promotional event for India Cements in Chennai.

With the widely-acclaimed league’s auction slated in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28 respectively, the 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni wants to avail the services of the local crop of players.

“At an auction, we also have to look at how much money we can afford to go for each individual as we look to make a strong team,” Dhoni remarked.

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Ahead of the eleventh edition of the T20 league, Dhoni has further reiterated to seal the fate of the former players who were the part of the Chennai-based outfit in the recent past.

“We also have Brendon McCullum, Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo (our former players). We have two RTMs. But we have to know when and where to use them,” Dhoni maintained.

Following the alleged fixing allegations over the team management and players regarding the fixing scandal saga which took place in 2013 – the IPL Governing Council further defunct the Men in Yellow alongside Rajasthan Royals in 2015 as both teams missed out the 9th and 10th edition respectively.

“We may have to keep the emotions aside, we may want somebody, but if his price goes outside our range, we have to let him go,” Dhoni explained.

The former Team India skipper will be with the management of CSK to pick the strong side for the upcoming IPL edition which is bound to kick off on April five and the ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin would be the hot property for CSK.

“We will definitely go for him [Ashwin] in the auction. He is a local lad,” Dhoni asserted.

However, Super Kings would not like to cash on through the Right to Match card (RTM) when it comes to the picking of Ashwin.

“With Ashwin we cannot use the RTM as we have already got three Indian players retained. We have to buy him in the auction,” Dhoni added.

The two-time IPL champion has two RTMs available in the kitty and would be aiming use them well.

“He will come first in the auction. But as I said, we will have to wait and watch. We will try to get him,” Dhoni further added.

On January 4, the CSK management has already bagged Suresh Raina (INR 11 crore) and Ravindra Jadeja (INR 7 crore) while relying on the retention policy procedure which saw Dhoni claiming whopping 15 crore deal.

Having the plenty of experience on his back, Dhoni was speaking at the event which further saw him thanking the fan-base which according to him had improved and got better with the time even when the team was not participating in the premium tournament.

“That’s the adaptability factor we need to have at the auction table,” Dhoni concluded.

In 159 IPL matches, Dhoni has scored 3,561 at an average of 37.88. He has smashed 17 fifties with the highest score of unbeaten 70.

Here’s the tweet:

Despite being not there for past 2 years our fan following got only better – MS Dhoni, on CSK at an #IndiaCements event in Chennai this morning. @TheIndiaCements #SummerIsComing @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/5rwrV9Vyex

— WhistlePodu Army ® – CSK Fan Club (@CSKFansOfficial) January 19, 2018

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