IPL Auction 2018: CSK hit the mark on Day 1, need good local recruits to round off

In IPL, CSK has always meant business. Hardly a mis-step on field, CSK has shown self-awareness and tactical acumen most franchises have lacked at least in the early years. If anyone thought, they are a bit rusty after a two years hiatus, CSK gave them a shock of their lives on Saturday's auction.

It started by retaining three bigwigs in Dhoni, Raina and Jadeja before the auction. It used RTM to retain Faf de Plessis and Bravo. It lucked out with Faf, and had to only pay Rs 1.6 cr to get the Proteas test captain. Shane Watson is a quality buy for Rs 4 crore, especially with his recent form in BBL. Tahir who was bought for Rs 1 crore only is a real steal. it gave big bucks to acquire Kedar Jadhav, known for his big-hitting prowess.

 Bhajji and Karan Sharma will be a handful n the slow Chepauk wicket. While Bhajji was bought for Rs 2 cr, Karan Sharma came expensive for Rs 5 cr. Sharma is known for his wicket -taking skills and can be a perfect foil for veteran Bhajji and Jadeja, who are often more defensive in their approach.

 Rayadu as the backup keeper virtually checks off all the boxes. What CSK now needs some good local talents, who can support the heavyweights. Thankfully for CSK, with tournaments like TNPL, it probably has already identified the uncut diamonds who would be ready to burst into the global stage.

CSK has Rs 17 crores in the purse. So, it can also go for one or two big buys apart from picking up a clutch of youngsters. Maybe an Amla to add to the batting heft? The yellow army should be happy with their loot from Saturday, even though letting go of Ashwin must be hurting the die-hard fans.

Full Team: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja,  Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Imran Tahir