Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will begin their IPL 2022 campaign in the tournament opener against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium on March 26.
During the mega-auction last month, CSK roped in some prominent names like Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, Shivam Dube, and Chris Jordan.
The legendary MS Dhoni will continue to lead the franchise, which had retained him ahead of the auction along with three other players – Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
However, the Super Kings have suffered a setback ahead of the upcoming season as pace-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar is expected to miss the major part of the tournament due to a quadriceps injury.
Amid the recent development, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has said that CSK will have to rely on promising young talent Rajvardhan Hangargekar in the IPL 2022.
Hangargekar, who featured in India’s U-19 World Cup triumph earlier this year, was signed by CSK for INR 1.50 crore at the mega-auction.
“Shardul Thakur isn't there as well so you need to make sure that you find a replacement. They have one guy who is young, is raw - Hangargekar. You know he is a fantastic young talent. If a young guy comes into other team I might be bit more worried but they have MS Dhoni as their leader, their captain behind the stumps and that makes things a lot easier for the younger guys. So I feel they nearly found some sort of replacement,” Pathan said while speaking on Star Sports show Game Plan.
The 19-year-old Hangargekar is a seam bowler and a power-hitter. He played a key role in India’s U-19 World Cup 2022 victory, returning with 52 runs from three innings and five wickets.
“Obviously for Deepak Chahar, it is not easy to find the kind of bowler because the skills he brings to the table like swinging the ball around and getting early wickets. As soon as he gets fit he comes into the playing XI but till then they need to rely on Hangargekar. I think he will be the guy who will actually come with a lot of potential,” Pathan added.
