In preparation for the IPL 2025 auction, five-time champions, the Chennai Super Kings have made their retentions for the season. Headed for their record sixth IPL title in 2025, CSK have retained captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja, both receiving Rs 18 crore each.
The much-admired Indian wicket-keeper batsman, MS Dhoni will be seen for another year in the famous yellow kit as he was also retained as the ‘unsold’ player for Rs 4 crore. The other retentions are Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 13 crores and Shivam Dube for Rs 12 crores.
CSK Retained Players List
Below is a detailed table highlighting Chennai Super Kings retained players and their respective roles and retention values:
| Player | Retention Value | Role |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | Rs 18 crore | Batsman |
| Shivam Dube | Rs 12 crore | Batsman |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Rs 18 crore | All-Rounder |
| MS Dhoni | Rs 4 crore | Batsman |
| Matheesha Pathirana | Rs 13 crore | Bowler |
CSK Released Players List
Let’s have a look at the list of all the players CSK have released ahead of next season:
| Player | Nationality | Role | Price |
| Moeen Ali | Overseas | All-Rounder | ₹ 8,00,00,000 |
| Deepak Chahar | Indian | Bowler | ₹ 14,00,00,000 |
| Mitchell Santner | Overseas | All-Rounder | ₹ 1,90,00,000 |
| Rajvardhan Hangargekar | Indian | All-Rounder | ₹ 1,50,00,000 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Indian | Batter | ₹ 50,00,000 |
| Devon Conway | Overseas | Batsman | ₹ 1,00,00,000 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | Overseas | Bowler | ₹ 70,00,000 |
| Tushar Deshpande | Indian | Bowler | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| Simarjeet Singh | Indian | Bowler | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| Mukesh Choudhary | Indian | Bowler | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| Nishant Sindhu | Indian | All-Rounder | ₹ 60,00,000 |
| Prashant Solanki | Indian | Bowler | ₹ 1,20,00,000 |
| Ajay Mandal | Indian | All-Rounder | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| Shaik Rasheed | Indian | Batter | ₹ 20,00,000 |
| Daryl Mitchell | Overseas | All-Rounder | ₹ 14,00,00,000 |
| Shardul Thakur | Indian | All-Rounder | ₹ 4,00,00,000 |
| Rachin Ravindra | Overseas | All-Rounder | ₹ 1,80,00,000 |
| Sameer Rizvi | Indian | Batter | ₹ 8,40,00,000 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Overseas | Bowler | ₹ 2,00,00,000 |
| Avanish Rao Aravelly | Indian | Wicket-Keeper | ₹ 20,00,000 |
Players CSK can target for IPL 2025 main event
Every IPL franchize to start 2025 with ₹120 crore purse, which was hiked from previous seasons. CSK used ₹67 crore to retain five players, which would leave them with ₹53 crore for mega auction and perhaps to target some high profile player like Rishabh Pant.
CSK has ₹53 crore left for the auction purse and this team is well capable of doing good value buys like Rishabh Pant for the long-term as a replacement for MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper-batsman. However, Pant may feel the heat in the next auctions as there will be more aggressive bids from the franchises, especially those with more purse strings like Punjab Kings. While Pant’s acquisition is beneficial for the CSK setup for many years, bidding could put pressure on CSK’s financial management.
Now CSK will have one RTM to utilise during the mega auction. Devon Conway’s consistency, his scoring rate and the kind of chemistry he has built with Ruturaj Gaikwad makes him the standout man to be used RTM on by CSK. Maheesh Theekshana is very useful in bowling at any time of the match hence can be regarded as a useful bowler. His reliability and productivity at the Chepauk, which is the home ground of CSK, makes him one of the essential players which the team must use the RTM on.
Also, Rachin Ravindra got a contract of CSK in IPL 2024 season after his amazing performance in the World Cup 2023. While he underperformed, he was expected to provide better results in the future and was presented as an asset. Because he can open the bat and bowl a couple of important overs with the ball, he is someone CSK may consider this year to use the RTM on. Apart from these RTM options, CSK may target Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul and some young talent in IPL 2025 Mega auction.
