IPL 2024 Auction: “Shardul Thakur Is Similar To Pat Cummins”

Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur has kept his base price at 2 crores heading into the auction. He along with Umesh Yadav and Harshal Patel are the three Indian cricketers in this top category.

Shardul was released by KKR during the retention window. He was traded in from Delhi Capitals who bought him for 10.75 crores in the IPL 2022 auction. The Indian all-rounder had a relatively quiet season taking just seven wickets in 11 matches and scoring just one fifty-plus score against RCB.

Shardul managed to get 15 wickets in 14 matches for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022 but for KKR went the distance leaking runs at an economy of 10.48 runs per over.

However heading into the IPL 2024 auction, Suresh Raina expected Shardul Thakur to start a bidding war between franchises. Shardul played his best in the IPL during his stint with Chennai Super Kings and Raina believes that CSK might want to have him back in their squad. He picked up 55 wickets for the franchise at an average of 27.53.

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Suresh Raina Predicts Shardul Thakur’s Return To CSK

“He is very similar to Pat Cummins. He has done well in the bowling department as well as with the bat. KKR, I don’t think used him in that manner. When he played for CSK, he has done really well. He brought a lot of quality with the older ball as well as the new ball. (Deepak) Chahar is a bit injury-prone, and (Matheesha) Pathirana also is. He is an all-rounder like Deepak Chahar,” Suresh Raina said during Jio Cinema’s mock auction on Monday.

Raina who was bidding for CSK was involved in a bidding war with Abhinav Mukund who was bidding in favour of the Punjab Kings. The Kings outbid CSK to get Shardul at the mock auction for a whopping sum of Rs 14 crores.

“He (Shardul) understands the CSK administration, he understands the leadership. And MS astutely used him well. I think he is an important buy. I think, like Abhinav Mukund said, he is a very important Indian bowler. And his form will be crucial,” Raina added.

Speaking about CSK, they retained 19 players and released 8 during the retention window. The franchise has a remaining purse of 31.4 crores heading into the IPL 2024 auction. While they have a settled squad, they need to fill in a few areas. CSK must get a backup wicketkeeper for MS Dhoni who is possibly playing his final IPL season. They can look to rope in someone like KS Bharat who would be an ideal backup for the CSK skipper.

CSK IPL 2024 Retained Players

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary, Mitchell Santner, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Prashant Solanki, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal.

CSK IPL 2024 Released Players

Ben Stokes, Dwaine Pretorius, Bhagath Varma, Subhranshu Senapati, Ambati Rayudu (Retired), Akash Singh, Kyle Jamieson and Sisanda Magala.

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