Mahendra Singh Dhoni says Chennai Super Kings will 'definitely' go after this particular player during the 2018 Indian Premier League auctions in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of three players retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL), made some interesting observations on Thursday about his franchise's auction strategy.
Two-time champions CSK spent Rs 33 crore to retain MSD (15cr), Suresh Raina (11cr) and Ravindra Jadeja (7cr) at the end of their two-year suspension recently.
With the mega auction for IPL 11 being held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28, Dhoni was candid while talking about CSK's strategies during a promotional event in Chennai. The former Indian captain revealed his side will definitely go for 'local lad' Ravichandran Ashwin when the star off-spinner comes under the hammer.
"We will definitely go for him (Ashwin) in the auction. He is a local lad. We want a lot of local players in CSK," said Dhoni.
The 36-year-old was also mindful of how to use the all-important Right To Match (RTM) cards: "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.
"With Ashwin we cannot use the RTM as we have already got three Indian players retained. We have to buy him in the auction. He will come first in the auction. But as I said, we will have to wait and watch. We will try to get him."
An auction ceremony is a game of chess as much as anything else, and Dhoni is a master of tactics. For each franchise, it'll be imperative to not overspend on a particular player. This fact wasn't lost on 'Thala'.
"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," said MSD. "In the past, we have seen a lot of teams target former CSK players. 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 because we have to focus on making the complete side."
Dhoni added: "That's the adaptability factor we need to have at the auction table. As far as the team composition is concerned, we had three retainerships. We have retained a keeper, we have retained two batsmen and the same two batsmen can also bowl - one left-arm spinner and one off-spinner. A lot of areas are covered when it comes to the top-order. We don't need to go for more left-handers."
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