‘Last time, they stole him for 1.5 crore’: Ashwin warns CSK to ‘be ready to spend lot more’ for star in IPL mega auction
The mega auction of the Indian Premier League is set to take place between February 12-13 in Bengaluru. The auction this year has added significance due to the arrival of two new teams; Lucknow (Super Giants) and Ahmedabad.
As such, the franchises are on their toes well ahead of the dates as they attempt to rebuild their respective squads.
The mega auction this year sees 590 players going under the hammer and one of the star batters who might be aiming for a reunion with his former franchise Chennai Super Kings is South Africa’s Faf du Plessis. The former Proteas skipper had been a key member of the CSK roster over the past many years and played an important role in their victorious 2021 campaign, where he finished as the tournament’s second-highest run-getter.
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin – himself a part of the 590-player list for mega auction – said that he expects a bidding war for du Plessis.
“Last time around, CSK stole Faf du Plessis for 1.5 crore. But this time, I don’t see that type of steal happening for him. CSK fans will definitely have him on their wish list. If CSK wants to buy Faf du Plessis this time, they should definitely be ready to spend a lot more than they did last time. Faf du Plessis will have a great demand in my opinion. Faf will be sought after by most teams,” Ashwin said on his official YouTube channel.
CSK had retained Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the mega auction.
Earlier, Ashwin had admitted that he would like a return to Chennai Super Kings but explained the move could be difficult due to the presence of Moeen in the squad.
“I’m actually not too sure, but to be honest, a professional player going anywhere giving his best must be the ideal way to go about it,” Ashwin had said.
“But yeah, I am 35 now, it will be nice to come back to where I started but they already have an off-spinner with them in Moeen Ali. So I don’t know how they gonna go about it, so let’s wait and watch.”