IPL 2024: MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have a major challenge ahead of them to defend their title as they prepare for the upcoming 17th season of the IPL. CSK have added some top-level players and have built an impressive squad ahead of IPL 2024. They retained their big stars like Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, and other main players, and they splashed money on big names in the 2024 IPL Auction.
They added the Kiwi duo of Daryl Mitchell (14 crore rupees) and Rachin Ravindra (1.8 crore rupees) to their squad at the 2024 IPL Auction, and the Yellow Army also secured the services of Indian All-Rounder Shardul Tahkur for four crore rupees.
The CSK management wasn’t scared of investing a large amount of money in youngsters, as they splashed a record 8.40 crore rupees on uncapped player Sameer Rizvi. The 20-year-old is touted by cricketing experts as the right-handed Suresh Raina. He had an impressive season in the Uttar Pradesh T20 League, as he scored the fastest century of the tournament in just 47 balls in the very first edition of the T20 League.
The Impact Player Rule was introduced for the first time last year in IPL 2023. According to this rule, a franchise needs to name four substitutes along with their main playing 11 at the toss, and they can use the services of any one substitute player at any point in a match by replacing a playing 11 player with the substitute. The usage of this rule completely changed the dynamics of the Indian Premier League last year, and this rule is set to play an important role in IPL 2024 as well. The following are the four players who the Chennai Super Kings can use as impact players in IPL 2024:
Impact Players
Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane had a tremendous IPL 2023 with the Chennai Super Kings. The veteran played incredibly good innings at a really high strike rate, which surprised all the cricket fans around the world. His impressive performances in the IPL 2023 earned him a recall to the Indian test team for the 2023 WTC Final.
But, the Mumbai batter hasn’t performed at his usual best in domestic cricket this year. With just a single half-century next to his name in eight List-A games, Rahane may not be a guaranteed starter for the Super Kings in IPL 2024, but they can definitely use him as an impact player.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Young Indian speedster Rajvardhan Hangargekar was bought by CSK for a price of 1.5 crore rupees in the 2022 IPL auction. He didn’t get a chance to play any matches for CSK in 2022, but he made his much awaited debut for the five-time IPL Champions last year against the IPL 2022 winners, the Gujarat Titans, where he picked up three crucial wickets and gave away just 36 runs. He played in the next game against the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants but didn’t have an impressive outing as he gave away 24 runs in two overs, and after the match against LSG, he didn’t get a chance to play in any further games.
Talking about IPL 2024, Hangargekar may play a bigger role for the MS Dhoni led team and can be used as an impact player in a game where CSK will be batting first. His pace and prowess to pick wickets at regular intervals can benefit the five-time IPL winners.
Sameer Rizvi
The Chennai Super Kings decision to sign uncapped player Sameer Rizvi for a whopping 8.40 crore rupees shocked all the cricket fans around the world. His signing made him the most expensive uncapped player in the history of the Indian Premier League.
Rizvi is well known for his exploits in last year’s UP T20 League, where he scored the fastest century of the tournament in just 47 balls. He will be featuring for the first time in the Indian Premier League in 2024, and he may be eased into the scheme of things by playing as an impact player in the IPL in 2024. His fearless gameplay and ability to play with an extremely high strike can prove to be a big weapon for the MS Dhoni-led team.
Tushar Deshpande
Tushar Deshpande can play as an impact player for the Super Kings, as he regularly played as an impact player in IPL 2023, and MS Dhoni believes in sticking to a certain strategy, so Tushar can come in handy as an impact player. The 28-year-old was the highest wicket-taker for the MS Dhoni-led team, as he picked up 21 scalps in 16 games for the franchise. He is a good wicket-taking bowler and has the ability to bowl well in the death overs as well, but he bowls at a really high economy rate. If his economy rate issues get sorted, then he can be a complete package for the Super Kings.
Read: Gujarat Titans, IPL 2024: Three Players Who Can REPLACE Mohammed Shami for Gujarat Titans
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