Former CSK Player Critiques Team's Auction Decisions Amid Poor IPL Performance

Badrinath Questions CSK's Auction Strategy

Chennai: The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been struggling in the IPL, and former player Subramaniam Badrinath has voiced his concerns regarding the team's auction tactics. He criticized the management for not securing Delhi opener KL Rahul during the 2025 auction, instead opting to invest heavily in two untested young players.

During the auction, CSK engaged in a competitive bidding war with Delhi Capitals for KL Rahul. Ultimately, CSK withdrew after reaching a bid of 13.5 crore, allowing Delhi to acquire Rahul for 14 crore. In a surprising turn, CSK then spent 14.20 crore each on two uncapped players, Karthik Sharma and Prashant Veer, totaling 28.40 crore, which frustrated Badrinath.

Badrinath remarked, "You paid over 14 crore each for Karthik Sharma and Prashant Veer. Yet, you only bid 13.5 crore for KL Rahul, who was taken by Delhi for 14 crore. If you had just increased your bid by 50 lakhs, KL Rahul would have been part of the Chennai team. How can you justify spending the same amount on an uncapped player in a mini-auction while hesitating to invest in a proven player like Rahul? Is this the 'process' that CSK prides itself on?"

He further stated that having Rahul on the team would have significantly strengthened CSK, potentially preventing the need to release key players like Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, who are valued at around 20 crore, to acquire someone like Sanju Samson. KL Rahul boasts impressive statistics, with 5,755 runs in 158 IPL matches, averaging over 46 and maintaining a strike rate of 139.

Badrinath also criticized other auction choices made by CSK, expressing relief that Mumbai Indians acquired the struggling Indian pacer Deepak Chahar, whom CSK had been pursuing. He noted that the team's auction strategies have been ineffective for the past three years, highlighting the underperformance of players like Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, and Rahul Tripathi, who were released before the 2026 auction.

CSK has not reached the playoffs in the last two seasons and finished at the bottom of the points table last year. Currently, with only one league match left, they sit in seventh place, on the brink of missing the playoffs for a third consecutive year.

Click here to watch Live