IPL 2018: Chennai Super Kings explain why they went for veterans over youngsters

CSK has many players over 30-year age mark.

Chennai Super Kings | Twitter Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has taken a very unorthodox way to prepare their team for the upcoming IPL season.

When franchises were having a look at young cricketers in the IPL 2018 auction, CSK used their purse to buy veteran cricketers. They bought Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo and Kedar Jadhav in the initial stage of the recently concluded auction. It came as a surprise for many as most of the cricketers on their list were over 30-years-old.

CSK spent Rs 7.8 crore for Indian cricketer Kedar Jadhav. "Kedar's slow bowling and batting abilities make him a great buy. We had decided before going into the auctions that we are going to go all out for these guys. We are very happy with the team we have got," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said.

The Chennai franchise left their fans more shocked when they went for Harbhajan over R Ashwin. CSK management revealed that it was MS Dhoni's wish to get the 37-year-old off spinner in the squad. They also didn't go after new talent Washington Sundar in the auction. CSK got Harbhajan in his base price of 2 crores. 

"Youth does not necessarily translate into matchwinning performances. There is no substitute for experience — we are players who have walked the difficult road and know how to deal with it," Harbhajan told Times Of India after being picked by CSK.

CSK manager also spoke on South African spinner Imran Tahir. He thinks the 38-year-old spinner has experience and his quality is as good as young spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

"Look at his quality, don't see his age. This is the era when athletes go that extra mile to keep themselves fit even when they are closing 40. The prime example of that is Roger Federer, who wins so much at 37," said a CSK manager.

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 09 Feb, 2018

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