Predicting Chennai Super Kings' 3 first-choice overseas players for IPL 2022
Defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) purchased 21 players at the mega auction held in Bengaluru. They bought back a number of cricketers they had released ahead of the auction. Pacer Deepak Chahar was the most expensive of the lot, picked up for ₹14 crore.
CSK also bought back Ambati Rayadu for ₹6.75 crore, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for ₹4.4 crore and veteran batter Robin Uthappa for ₹2 crore. Among their other purchases, Chennai went for Chris Jordan at ₹3.6 crore and Shivam Dube at ₹4 crore.
Chennai had retained four players ahead of the IPL 2022 auction - MS Dhoni (₹12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (₹16 crore), Moeen Ali (₹8 crore) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹6 crore). All the four played key roles in CSK’s IPL 2021 triumph.
IPL 2022: Will these overseas players consistently feature in CSK XI?
Although an IPL team can field a maximum of four overseas players in their XI, CSK are unlikely to field more than three in most games as they are heavy on Indian talent. We predict CSK’s three first-choice overseas cricketers for the 2022 season.
#1 Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali was CSK’s X factor in the team last season. He constantly came in at No.3 and played momentum-changing cameos. Whether Chennai lost an early wicket or got off to a good start, Moeen played one way - he went out there and threw his bat around. The ploy worked quite brilliantly.
The aggressive left-hander played 15 matches for the team and smashed 357 runs at a strike rate of 137.30. Having retained the England cricketer, CSK are likely to utilize Moeen in a similar role in IPL 2022 as well. A clean striker of the cricket ball, the 34-year-old has a strike rate of 146.37 in his overall IPL career.
this season! 
Peaky 🕶️ Action 🔜 this season! 🔥
#WhistlePodu 🦁💛 https://t.co/wXaVujMZXy
Apart from his batting skills, Moeen is also a useful off-spinner, who can chip in with crucial wickets. He claimed six victims last season, which included a best of 3/7. In his T20 career, the all-rounder has picked up 149 wickets in 216 matches.
#2 Dwayne Bravo
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo may not be the same force he once used to be in T20 cricket. However, as he showed last season, he still has something to offer with his varied skills. And CSK will be keen to utilize his presence to the hilt.
The 38-year-old claimed 14 wickets in 11 matches at a strike rate of 14.42 during IPL 2021 as CSK went on to lift the trophy for the fourth time. His slower balls were not always on target but Bravo continued to trouble batters with his variations.
The veteran cricketer did not have a lot to do with the bat last year as Chennai’s top-order did the bulk of the scoring. Still, he clobbered 47 runs in the 18 balls that he faced, ending up with a strike rate of 261.11. A valuable asset to any T20 franchise, it wasn’t surprising that Chennai purchased him back at the auction.
#3 Devon Conway
Apart from Moeen and Bravo, the other overseas players don’t look like a certainty to feature in the playing XI. Among the options, they could go for New Zealand left-hander Devon Conway, who is a smart cricketer.
The 30-year-old has made an impressive start to his T20I career. In 20 matches, he has scored 602 runs at an average of 50.16 and a strike rate of 139.35. He is a reasonably experienced T20 cricketer, having scored 3765 runs in 115 games at a strike rate of 128.14 and an average of 43.77. He has also notched up two T20 hundreds.
The group Ensemble! 🥳! Aaramikalangala?!
#TATAIPL #WhistlePodu 🦁 https://t.co/LfKVYKtpFR
Apart from his batting talent, Conway can keep wickets as well and bowl some medium pace too. In addition to that, he is a brilliant outfielder. His spectacular flying catch during the T20 World Cup was quite a big hit on social media platforms. Given his versatility, CSK might look to use Conway’s services on a regular basis.