Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran slammed Chennai Super Kings’ auction strategy after the five-time champions could not make it to the playoffs in IPL 2026. Ashwin said CSK should have targeted players like Venkatesh Iyer and Jason Holder in the mini auction, given the two all-rounders were collectively bought for INR 14 crores by Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans respectively.
Both of these players were roped in for INR 7 crore each. However, CSK decided to invest big in the young players, purchasing Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer for INR 14.20 crore each. While Sharma was able to do a decent job for CSK in the recently concluded season, Veer failed to impressed with either bat or ball.
Meanwhile, Jason Holder scalped 17 wickets in 11 matches for GT whereas Iyer scored 209 runs in six innings for RCB.
Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Auction strategies need to be reworked. Two teams picked Venkatesh Iyer and Jason Holder for 7 crores and made the final. Instead of picking two for 14 crores each, they should have gone for these two to achieve a combination of youth and experience. They didn’t gel as a team and had role clarity issues.”
“Other teams suffered injuries before the season itself. But for CSK, injuries aren’t new, and their players got injured after the season started. Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t overcome the injuries, which continue to be a problem for them. They gave the wrong insertion points for many players. Using Brevis and Dube as finishers means the decision-making was also lopsided.”
On the other hand, the former CSK spinner picked Sanju Samson’s knock of 87 runs off 52 balls against Delhi Capitals as the franchise’s best moment in IPL 2026. However, Ashwin reckons the loss to LSG in Lucknow when CSK posted 187 runs on the board, was the team’s lowest moment.
