?I feel they need a successor to Dhoni?, Cricket analyst Akash Chopra names CSK veterans replacement after the IPL 2025

The IPL 2025 mega auction is very near and is set to happen on November 24 and 25 in Riyadh. Teams have already announced their retention list and star Indian wicketkeeper-batters like KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will be under the hammer in the auction.

Former India opener, Aakash Chopra, in his recent YouTube video, has said that CSK might go for the hunt of KL Rahul as a keen futuristic option for an Indian wicket-keeper batsman.

Although CSK have retained MS Dhoni as an uncapped player, they will need to find his successor as Dhoni might not be able to play the full tournament. CSK has trusted in veteran players who have been written off by the fans and media. KL Rahul, who is 30 years old, is in such a position as he has been vehemently criticised by the fans for his low strike rate in T20Is and is also out of the Indian T20I team.

?What all do they need? I feel they need a successor to Dhoni, a wicketkeeper-batter and it?s great if they get an Indian. Everyone is saying, let me also say ? he is more than 30 years old, is going to be a father very soon and everyone has written him off as well, so he is right for Chennai, that?s KL Rahul. So they will go for KL Rahul,?

Aakash Chopra said in his recent YouTube video

KL Rahul has been released by Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction

Rahul was released by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of the upcoming auction. The owner, Sanjiv Goenka, took a sly dig at him stating that they want players who play for the team and not their personal milestones.

Rahul also replied back in an interview stating that he wants to play for a team who trusts him and has a light atmosphere. He wants to use IPL 2025 to make a comeback into the Indian T20I team.

Rahul has played 123 innings in the IPL and has scored 4683 runs at an average of 45.47 and a strike rate of 134.61. He has 37 half-centuries and four hundreds to his name in this tournament. He has kept Rs 2 crore as his base price in the IPL.

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