IPL 2021 Auction: MS Dhoni, Stephen Fleming Will Not be Present, Confirms CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan

Vishwanathan says they have shortlisted their players and are ready for the auctions.

MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming will not be present at the upcoming auction in Chennai. Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed as quoted by InsideSport that the captain and the coach will not attend the auctions. This will break the hearts of fans who wait eagerly to get a glimpse of the duo. Viswanathan confirmed that they will connect with them digitally.

“Dhoni and Fleming will not be joining us for the IPL auctions. In today’s time, there are so many mediums to stay connected. They will be with us digitally,” Viswanathan said.

Chennai with a purse of Rs 19.9 could look to spend big on a batsman who could be a possible like-for-like replacement of Shane Watson. CSK released six players during the trading window which include Harbhajan Singh, and Kedar Jadhav.

Vishwanathan says they have shortlisted their players and are ready for the auctions. “Our preparations are going well. We are all set for the auctions,” Viswanathan added.

At the auction during the pandemic, only 13 members would be allowed to be at the venue. Eight members have to be seated, while the remaining five will be seated in the gallery.

CSK finished last in the season gone by and would like to turn it around this year. The franchise has said that they would look to build a team for the future and hence it would be interesting to see the players they bid for at the auction.

CSK: List of players retained MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravi Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Imran Tahir, R. Sai Kishore, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi.

List of players released-Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Monu Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson (retired).