"It seemed like his girlfriend had ditched him" - Aakash Chopra on Stephen Fleming's reaction after CSK couldn't buy Deepak Chahar in IPL 2025 auction
Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were able to acquire virtually every player they wanted at the IPL 2025 auction. He opined that Deepak Chahar was probably the only player they failed to buy and that the disappointment was evident on their head coach Stephen Fleming's face.
CSK had released Chahar ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Although they tried to reacquire the swing bowler last month, the Mumbai Indians (MI) outbid them, buying him for ₹9.25 crore.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener pointed out that the Chennai Super Kings were fortunate to get all their targeted players, barring Chahar.
"They got really lucky in the auction because they got the players they wanted. They wanted Devon Conway. They got him cheap. They wanted Rachin Ravindra. They used the RTM for him. Ravichandran Ashwin - you might get to hear the age-old 'Come on Ash' again. They ran after Noor Ahmad for a long time. Was ₹10 crore justified, but they said they definitely needed him," he said (2:15).
"Then they bought Sam Curran. I thought that was an absolute steal. The one person they couldn't buy was Deepak Chahar. From Fleming's face, it seemed like he was about to cry. It seemed like his girlfriend had ditched him, a very old relationship had broken, and she ran away with someone. It means they have so much commitment to get the old team together," Chopra added.
Chopra noted that CSK were among just three teams who assembled a full-strength 25-member squad. He added that the five-time champions have backups in virtually every department.
"They will choke the opposition" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's spin-bowling strength
![Ravichandran Ashwin (left) and Ravindra Jadeja are among the spin bowlers in CSK's lineup. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/dbb95-17333701544074-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra picked the Chennai Super Kings' spin attack as one of their strengths.
"Look at their spin-bowling department. If a team has Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad, they will choke the opposition. This is 12 overs of different kinds of spin - phenomenal. Don't be surprised if you get spin-friendly pitches in Chennai," he said (4:00).
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side also have a plethora of Indian batters to counter the likely spin-friendly conditions in Chepauk, their home ground.
"When you prepare spin-friendly pitches, you want a lot of Indians in batting. They also have that, from Ruturaj Gaikwad till MS Dhoni, they have a lot of Indians. In fact, if you try to make their XI, three of their overseas players are seen more in the bowling category. They are almost ready to play with just one overseas batter," Chopra observed.
Chopra opined that Rachin Ravindra might not feature in CSK's preferred playing XI, with Devon Conway likely being the only overseas batter. He concluded by rating the Chennai-based franchise's auction performance nine out of 10.