Top 5 Worst CSK Signings Of All Time: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the most successful franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team based in the capital of Tamil Nadu has reached the playoffs a whopping 12 times, out of which they have finished as the runner-up on five occasions and won the title a further five times.
The secret behind CSK’s prolonged and regular success is its consistency. For example, the team has had MS Dhoni as their captain since the inaugural 2008 season up until 2023. Even in 2024, when Ruturaj Gaikwad was named the skipper, Dhoni stayed with the side as a veteran leader.
In the 17 seasons so far, the Super Kings have not even changed their head coach, with former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming still holding onto the post. This team likes to keep a regular core of players throughout the seasons. They buy the players in order to keep them for years, developing them into massive assets.
The likes of Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, and Faf du Plessis played for them for years, winning multiple titles with the team. They are also very savvy in the auction, only going for players that settle into the team plans and not going for superstar hires on most occasions.
But this does not mean that CSK has not made any errors in buying and hiring players across the years. The team has bought some players in the past who have been quite costly but have not lived up to their promise or price tag.
Today, we will look at some of the worst Chennai Super Kings’ player signings. These players have been costly mistakes in the otherwise rich history of this franchise. These are the top 5 worst CSK signings of all time:
Top 5 Worst CSK Signings Of All Time
5) Scott Styris
Scott Styris is an example of a signing that CSK rarely makes. Buying a well-renowned cricketer for his obvious skills in T20 cricket but failing to capitalise on him. However, this one hardly falls on the franchise.
Towards the end of the Kiwi’s career, he was bought by the Super King in the 2011 auction for Rs. 92 lakh. Styris was given only two matches that season. The all-rounder only scored five runs in one inning. He also bowled just one over that season, giving away 13 runs.
Finding no good place for him in their system, CSK benched the New Zealand legend. This ended up being his last IPL season. However, the season ended in triumph for Chennai as they won their second title in a row.
4) Kedar Jadhav
Many fans might not remember it, but Kedar Jadhav used to be a big part of the Indian Cricket Team towards the end of the 2010s. He was even a part of the squad for the 2019 World Cup. But his stint for CSK in the IPL not only proved a net negative for the franchise but also tanked his stock.
The batting-allrounder was first bought by the Dhoni-led team in 2018 for a massive price of 7.8 crore. CSK buying a regular national team Indian player for that price seemed like the recipe for success, but that was not to be. After just the first match of the season, he pulled his hamstring and was out for the season. This allowed the team to replace him with Faf du Plessis in the batting order as CSK won their third IPL title that year.
Kedar Jadhav stayed with the team till 2020, even playing a full season in 2019, where he just scored 162 runs in 14 matches.
3) Krishnappa Gowtham
While Kedar Jadhav was beyond mediocre for CSK for three seasons, Krishnappa Gowtham was a part of the franchise for a single season but did not play any games. That is the story of Krishnappa Gowtham.
The Karnataka-based all-rounder became the highest-paid uncapped player in the 2021 auction when the Super King bought him for Rs. 9.25 crore. But in that COVID-affected season, he did not play even a single game, despite not being injured, at least not publicly.
And while the Chennai Super Kings went on to win their fourth IPL that season, Gowtham was unsurprisingly not retained. In 2022, his price dropped by over 90% when he was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants for Rs. 90 lakh.
Check Out: Top 5 Worst CSK Signings Of All Time
2) Andrew Flintoff
The legendary English all-rounder is part of one of the greatest T20 moments, as he was the one who mouthed off Yuvraj Singh before Tuvi hit six-6s in an over against England in the 2007 World T20. However, “Freddy” Flintoff was in the twilight of his career as this new format of cricket began commercialising.
Flintoff was in the auction for the 2009 IPL season, where he was bought for a massive amount of Rs. 7.6 crore by CSK. And while the Super Kings reached the playoffs for the second season in a row, the Englishman played only three games for the team, scoring 62 runs and taking two wickets.
The all-rounder never played in the IPL after that season and is now among the players who people forget even played in the league.
1) Ben Stokes
The fifth all-rounder on this list and the second Englishman, the captain of the English Test Cricket Team, is one of the greatest cricketers of this generation and has played a massive role in his national team’s revival across all formats. He had even had a few good IPL seasons for the Rajasthan Royals.
But when Stokes was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for an insane 16.25 crore in 2023, eyebrows were raised. Here was a player who had recently started playing less and less cricket, citing mental health. It seemed like everyone but CSK knew that Stokes was not going to play much cricket in the IPL that season. Even if he were to play the whole season, it was known that the Englishman was not going to bowl much, if at all.
And that was the case; Ben played only two IPL games in 2023, scoring 15 runs and bowling just one over. He gave away 18 runs in his one over, three more than he scored that season.
But despite Ben Stokes not featuring for the team much, Chennai Super Kings won the 2023 IPL. This shows how, despite some poor signings through the years, CSK always finds a way to make it work—the mark of a consistent and great team.
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