IPL 2019: 3 former MI players who have performed exceptionally well for CSK
One of the biggest challenges for the franchises of the Indian Premier League is the retention policy and the auction process. Once in every three years, all players are brought back to the auction pool with only a few allowed to be retained by the franchises.
Although this is helpful for teams that have a slightly weaker squad, it causes major problems to the successful ones. Teams like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have gone through a lot to build successful sides, but are given only a few spots to retain.
That said, Chennai, who have a very strong backroom staff, have always performed well in the auction. The core of the CSK team has remained the same over the years, which is reflected even in IPL 2019 as they are leading the points table.
The addition of a few Mumbai Indians players has strengthened the squad even more.
Here, we look at three former MI players who have performed exceedingly well for CSK.
#3 Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu was one of the most consistent performers for Mumbai Indians during his stay. He was used as a floater in the side and played the role of a finisher for the major part of his stint.
Surprisingly, Mumbai didn't go for the 33-year-old batsman in the 2018 auctions, and CSK bought him for just 2.2 Cr.
Experts were of the opinion that Rayudu would be used as a back-up option for the season. But captain MS Dhoni had huge regard for Rayudu the batsman and so allocated him the opening slot.
The Hyderabadi batsman responded very well by giving some excellent starts to the Super Kings. He also scored his first ever T20 hundred in the 2018 season for the team.
The versatility of Rayudu was evident when he adapted to the No: 4 slot in the later stages of the tournament. He went on to amass 602 runs which helped Chennai stage a strong comeback after a two-year ban; they ended up winning their third IPL crown in that season.
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