As Chennai Super Kings (CSK) succumbed to their sixth loss in eight games in the ongoing IPL 2025, this time to Mumbai Indians (MI), former CSK players Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh discussed the franchise’ poor performance in the mega auction last year.
The setback placed Chennai at the bottom of the points standings, and they are now on the verge of becoming the first club to be eliminated from the fight for the playoffs.
Speaking on television during Chennai's match against Mumbai, former vice-captain Raina claimed the five-time champions had lost half the battle at the auction table in November because they refused to pursue options such as Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul, who were all available.
“Mujhe lagta hai kahin na kahin inse (CSK) auction acha nahi hua hai. Auction main itne talented players, itne youngsters the. Kaha hai woh players? Aap itna paisa leke jaate ho auction ke liye. Aapne Rishabh Pant ko chhoda, Shreyas Iyer ko chhoda, KL Rahul ko chhoda. CSK team ko kabhi aise nahi dekha struggle karte hue. (I feel somewhere they did not have a good auction. There were so many talented players and youngsters in the auction. Where are they? You went to the auction with so much money but left Pant, Iyer, and Rahul. I have never seen CSK struggle like this),” Raina said on Star Sports.
Harbhajan, who was also in the commentary box, reiterated Raina's sentiments, blaming Chennai's talent scouts for this season's failure.
“CSK bohot badi team rahi hai. Jab yeh auction main gaye, inke paas woh option tha unn players ko le sakte the. Yuvaon main bhi waise yuva dikhe nahi jo game-changing wali innings khel sake. Thoda sa jo inke talent pool ko jo hunt karte hai unko bhi bitha ke puchhna chahiye ki bhai kya apne hume information di thi jiske chalte humne yeh logon ko select kiya tha(CSK is a big tam. They had the option to pick those players in the auction. Even among the youngsters, they did not turn out to be game-changers. The talent scouts should be questioned about their preferences, because the selection was based on that),” Harbhajan added.
Here is the video:
Chennai will next return home to face Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, followed by the Punjab Kings on April 30. To keep their playoff hopes alive, CSK must win all of their remaining games, resulting in 16 points at the end of the league stage.
