Reigning champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday announced that it has retained 22 members for the 2019 season, releasing only three players from the title-winning squad.
MS Dhoni-led CSK, which returned to the IPL fold after serving a two-year suspension, won the IPL 2018, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in the final.
England fast bowler Mark Wood and uncapped Indian players Kanishk Seth and Kshitiz Sharma have been released by the Chennai franchise ahead of the players’ auction scheduled to be held in mid-December.
All the eight franchises are required to inform the IPL Governing Council by November 15 about their retentions and release of players for the auction.
England all-rounder David Willey, who was picked as a replacement for the injured all-rounder Kedar Jadhav has been retained.
Jadhav, who sustained an injury in the opening match and missed the rest of the tournament, also remains in the squad.
Wood featured only in one match while Kanishk and Kshitiz didn’t feature in any game.
CSK had retained skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja prior to the 2018 IPL players’ auction and also used the Right to Match (RTM) card for Dwayne Bravo and Faf du Plessis.
The team didn’t seek a replacement for New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner, who was injured. He would join the squad for the upcoming season as per the CSK officials.
CSK has a purse of ₹ 8.5 crore (₹6.5 crore left from the last season and an additional ₹ 2 crore made available to the players this season) heading into the auction.
