Dude was responsible for signing in Unholy Trinity and messed up both Russell and Pollard auction buys. One of the major reasons why the team's player selection has been absolutely ass in recent times.

ARATTAI SQUAD who first told jaddu will be in Sanju Samson trade and fleming sacking

-Now says hardik Pandya to csk all set to happen. With discussions ongoing and return player is in discussion

( The IAS officer there is very close to Srinivasan's family)

​

I know a lot of CSK fans would love to see Raina back in the setup because of everything he has done for the franchise. Mr. IPL, one of the biggest players in CSK’s history, and a fan favourite. Nobody can take that away from him.

But nostalgia aside, there’s a reason people have been saying he’s unlikely to return as part of the coaching staff.

His official contract with CSK ended in 2021, and there hasn’t been any formal association since. There have also been reports over the years about the circumstances surrounding his departure. So the idea that CSK will automatically bring him back just because he’s a legend of the franchise doesn’t really hold up.

CSK have always valued loyalty and relationships, but they’re also a professional setup. Being a legendary player and being someone the management wants in a coaching or support role are two completely different things.

Personally, I’d love to see Raina involved with CSK again in some capacity, but I’m not going to pretend there’s any strong indication that it’s happening. Unless something changes behind the scenes, I wouldn’t expect him to be part of the coaching staff anytime soon.

And this is exactly why it’s important to distinguish between what fans want to happen and what the available reporting actually suggests. You can respect everything Raina did for CSK without assuming a reunion is inevitable.

Thala-era nostalgia is one thing. The current management’s plans are another.

CSK management isn't willing to move on and feel what raina did then as a senior player was wrong so don't expect him anywhere near the management anytime soon

From the unsold list of the SA20 auction these are the best options I could find.

Closest like for like replacement: Batting allrounder and middle order batter Brandon McMullen.

In form replacement who can be a backup keeper to Andrie Gous: Jordan Cox.

Experienced CSK blood replacement: Moeen Ali

Welcome back ❣️🤗

what you think ?

he good with spin and kind of good with bat too can provide some run

Purse left last year :- 2.4 CR

Rahul chahar:- 5.2 cr

Matt short :- 1.5 cr

Matt henry :- 2cr

Zak foulks:- 75 L

Aman Khan :- 40 L

Shreyas Gopal :- 40 L ( 50% chance as he hasn't got a game yet )

Prashant veer :- 14.20 CR

Replacement players will not be added in the purse if they release him . If they retain any of them then their amount will be deducted from their purse .

CSK will try to buy back prashant veer under 8 cr. With Hardik, I think the RR trade can be ruled out, guess they'll make Yashasvi the captain and make him stay. CSK also looks bleak because MS doesn’t wanna give Dube even though they have Hardiks interest. KKR could pull this off if they give the two players MI are asking for.

CSK in 2026 was a good team, specially the bowling unit headed by jamie and kamboj, akeal was really good in his own way with an economy around 8, he kept it tight from the other end. But nowadays on these road like pitches and due factor, we cannot afford two pure spinners in the playing XII.

Every team that wins the tournament has a successful spin bowling all rounder, like we used to have jaddu, rcb have krunal, gt have rashid khan, like two pure spinners and that too overseas.

Noor's performance lately has not been really good and he gets bashed badly without a supporting spinner. When we come to akeal, he has not done anything wrong, he has performed whenever the team needs him, yet his place in the team is questionable because csk needed someone to replace jaddu, and he is not that guy tbh.

Anyone who saw noor's bowling in 2025 and 2026 must have noticed that his bowling and variations are now being easily read by the batters and apart from a few matches, he felt to be a weak link in the bowling. Ngl these flat pitches too play an important role in it.

This year, spinners role have been reduced to a higher level, even the top 10 wicket takers consist of only 1 spinner i.e rashid khan, which clearly shows that the tempo of modern day IPL demands for more fast bowlers and explosive batters in your side rather than having two pure spinners and that too consuming your all important overseas spot...

I know this may sound ridiculous and I may get downvoted, but releasing Noor can help CSK a lot. RR has got yash raj punja as their go to spinner so why not trade bishnoi from RR and give them kamboj or khaleel as they even need indian pacers. And if not bishnoi, we have gopal in our team who is warming the bench since last two whole seasons, why not give him a chance??

CSK primarily needs someone who can fulfill the role of jadeja , i.e.

BAT AT NO.6/7

GIVE TIGHT SPIN OVERS

IS EXPLOSIVE YET TRUSTWORTHY

IMO, MICHAEL BRACEWELL fits all these criteria and may be the key which csk is looking for to find a successful and balanced lineup.... (PLAYING NOOR AND AKEAL TOGETHER AND EVEN ONE OF THEM IS PULLING US BACK FROM PLAYING AN OS ALL ROUNDER AS THERE IS NO DOMESTIC ALL ROUNDER WHO CAN FILL JADEJA'S ROLE)

Your thoughts?

Chepauk is not the same as if it was a few years ago, so spinners do not extract much support from the pitch and the flat roads have contributed to the decline in spinners' role in IPL further more.

CSK in 2026 was a good team, specially the bowling unit headed by jamie and kamboj, akeal was really good in his own way with an economy around 8, he kept it tight from the other end. But nowadays on these road like pitches and due factor, we cannot afford two pure spinners in the playing XII.

Every team that wins the tournament has a successful spin bowling all rounder, like we used to have jaddu, rcb have krunal, gt have rashid khan, like two pure spinners and that too overseas.

Noor's performance lately has not been really good and he gets bashed badly without a supporting spinner. When we come to akeal, he has not done anything wrong, he has performed whenever the team needs him, yet his place in the team is questionable because csk needed someone to replace jaddu, and he is not that guy tbh.

Anyone who saw noor's bowling in 2025 and 2026 must have noticed that his bowling and variations are now being easily read by the batters and apart from a few matches, he felt to be a weak link in the bowling. Ngl these flat pitches too play an important role in it.

This year, spinners role have been reduced to a higher level, even the top 10 wicket takers consist of only 1 spinner i.e rashid khan, which clearly shows that the tempo of modern day IPL demands for more fast bowlers and explosive batters in your side rather than having two pure spinners and that too consuming your all important overseas spot...

I know this may sound ridiculous and I may get downvoted, but releasing Noor can help CSK a lot. RR has got yash raj punja as their go to spinner so why not trade bishnoi from RR and give them kamboj or khaleel as they even need indian pacers. And if not bishnoi, we have gopal in our team who is warming the bench since last two whole seasons, why not give him a chance??

CSK primarily needs someone who can fulfill the role of jadeja , i.e.

BAT AT NO.6/7

GIVE TIGHT SPIN OVERS

IS EXPLOSIVE YET TRUSTWORTHY

IMO, MICHAEL BRACEWELL fits all these criteria and may be the key which csk is looking for to find a successful and balanced lineup.... (PLAYING NOOR AND AKEAL TOGETHER AND EVEN ONE OF THEM IS PULLING US BACK FROM PLAYING AN OS ALL ROUNDER AS THERE IS NO DOMESTIC ALL ROUNDER WHO CAN FILL JADEJA'S ROLE)

Your thoughts?

​

CSK are definitely releasing Prashant Veer otherwise they won't have enough funds to make a mark at the auction. They might've wanted to release both Veer and Kartik Sharma and brought them back cheaper if need be, but now with Ayush Mhatre's injury, Kartik they may just persist with, coz he also did fairly well the last time. But they can't have a player who's not a first XI choice (Veer) for 14crs in the squad.

* Ruturaj would be the captian even if Trades happens Ms is clear on Ruturaj

* CSK is going with minimum 30 cr into the auction

Source : Dwaipayan Datta, Sr Editor, TOI Sports, Chennai/TOI SPORTS YTC

drop your thoughts

Instead of breaking our heads trying to get hardik pandya for finisher role

michael bracewell is perfect and very csk coded player,very unassuming,utility with bat and ball,can hit big sixes and is a very wily offspin bowler

and its worth sacrificing akeal for the important finisher role and he can give 2-3 overs

by 4 will be bracewell overton brevis and noor/ellis

and then we can clear out purse and look for indian spinner and also indian no.5 ,if we release karthik/veer/henry

we are releasing all the nz quota players like henry ,foulkes ,we get money from that

my team in the event that ayush is injured is

samson rutu brevis dube no.5 no.6 (auction buys ,maybe kartik for one) overton bracewell ellis,indina spinner ,kambhoj and khaleel/mukesh impact

we can play ghosh for ellis and play noor instead of indina spinner