Chennai Super Kings went to extreme lengths to bring back pace bowler Deepak Chahar to the team, making him the second-most expensive player of the IPL 2022 mega auction. They faced some serious bidding competition from Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and eventually, Rajasthan Royals before securing his signature for a whopping INR 14 crore.

Chennai had released Chahar while announcing their retentions list ahead of the auction, opting to go with Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad instead. However, their bid showed the extent to which they valued Chahar who routinely got them breakthroughs in IPL 2021 and has also emerged as a fine lower-order batter.

Deepak Chahar was himself surprised by the amount teams bid form and he wanted Chennai Super Kings to stop bidding for him at one point after his price had gone past the INR 13 crore mark. Chahar further added that he wanted the team to save up on resources in order to build a more competitive unit rather than going all out for him.

“I wanted to play for CSK because I haven’t imagined myself playing in another colour than yellow,” said Deepak Chahar while speaking to Star Sports.

“At one point, I thought it (the bid price) was too much. As a CSK player, I also want to build a good team. So after they spent 13 crore, I actually wanted the bidding to stop so I can go to CSK quickly, and then we can buy some other players (with the money saved),” he added.

Meanwhile, Suresh Raina’s association has also come to an end seemingly after he went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction. Once the prized possession of the IPL and CSK, people were surprised when even The Yellow Army didn’t bid for their Chinna Thala.

Raina spent almost the entirety of his IPL career with Chennai Super Kings and has been a part of all their title triumphs. He was the leading run-scorer in IPL history at one point before his numbers started declining due to age. Raina eventually announced his international retirement along with his captain and friend MS Dhoni and also had a rough period with the bat last season in the IPL.

Explaining his decision, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Vishwanath said, “Raina has been one of the most consistent performers for CSK for the last 12 years. Of course, it was very difficult for us, no to have Raina but at the same time, you should also understand that the team composition depends on the form and kind of team which any team would like to have so that’s one of the reasons why we thought he may not fit into this team.”