Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes it will be fabulous if the Chennai Super Kings get the likes of South African all-rounder Chris Morris or New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson in IPL 2021 auction.
CSK finished 7th in the points table in IPL 2020 as they missed two of their seniormost cricketers, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. Coming into IPL 2021, Raina will be back for the Men in Yellow while Harbhajan has been released by the franchise.
Gambhir has pointed out that CSK now have a strong Indian batting line-up with the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, and recently-traded Robin Uthappa.
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Gautam Gambhir told Star Sports, "Not many (gaps to fill). Despite having not the best season last time around, I think, they still have a strong core. Suresh Raina has come back now, Robin Uthappa – they have traded from Rajasthan Royals, obviously, their batting looks very strong at the moment which was a bit of a mess in the last season."
"So, with the experience of Raina, Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, and MS Dhoni, they have got a strong Indian batting line-up," he added.
He further went on to say that CSK has a strong core intact with all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja and DJ Bravo at their disposal. Gambhir also suggested that they can get in Krishnappa Gowtham as an off-spinning replacement for Harbhajan Singh.
The southpaw said, "Their core is still intact. They have got Ravindra Jadeja, they’ve got Dwayne Bravo who has been there for such a long time. So probably, they will look at someone like K Gowtham as an off-spinner because they have let go of Harbhajan Singh. And a back-up of Bravo, because MS believes a lot in all-rounders with the kind of surface they play on."
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"So, they don’t need to fill a lot of gaps because they have got Robin Uthappa. They can open the batting with Faf du Plessis and Robin, with Raina at No. 3, Rayudu at No. 4, and MS at 5. Plus, Bravo, Sam Curran, and Ravindra Jadeja. They have got so much depth," he added.
Gambhir also stated that CSK will be a fabulous side if they manage to get in Morris or Jamieson to bowl for them.
"So, once they have Umesh and Deepak Chahar and then they’ve got a backup, for someone like Dwayne Bravo could be Chris Morris and K Gowtham. o they can have someone like Morris or Kyle Jamieson in place of Bravo, that'll be a fabulous team actually," Gambhir concluded.
The IPL 2021 auction will be conducted on Thursday, February 18 in Chennai from 3 PM IST.
