The Chennai Super Kings are one of the most followed teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The primary reasons behind it are the presence of Thala MS Dhoni and the consistent performances of the team. In the last 13 years, CSK have failed to qualify for the playoffs only once, showing how brilliantly they have performed in the league.
Talking about their strategy in the IPL, CSK have always believed in retaining the core players and changing the others. CSK have also backed a few players who did not perform well in a season. However, they surprisingly released the following five players even after they had a good season while donning the yellow jersey.
1.Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey played a massive role in the success that the Chennai Super Kings achieved during the first five seasons. Nicknamed as Mr. Cricket, Hussey always performed consistently for the Super Kings.
He had won the Orange Cap award in 2013, aggregating 733 runs in 17 matches. Still, the Chennai-based franchise released him from their squad before the 2014 season. Hussey played for the Mumbai Indians in 2014, but in 2015, he returned to the MS Dhoni-led squad and finished his career with a decent performance in the yellow colors.
2.Muttiah Muralitharan
Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan began his IPL career as a part of the Chennai Super Kings team in 2008. He picked up total 26 wickets in the first two seasons. The 2010 edition was the best for Muttiah as he took 15 wickets and played a crucial role in the team’s championship win. His economy rate of 6.85 highlights that the batsmen found it tough to attack him.
However, Chennai did not retain him before the mega-auction in 2011. He subsequently played for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala and the Royal Challengers Bangalore before calling it a day on his career.
3.David Hussey
Michael Hussey’s brother David Hussey joined the Chennai Super Kings as Dwayne Bravo’s replacement in the 2014 season. Hussey got to five matches for the yellow army, where he scored 116 runs and took two wickets. The former Kings XI Punjab captain hit a half-century and had an average of 58 that season.
Unfortunately, CSK released Hussey before the 2015 season. That also led to the end of David’s IPL career. The 43-year-old has quit all forms of cricket now.
4.Thilan Thushara
The Chennai Super Kings team have shown much interest in overseas left-arm fast bowlers. Recently, the likes of David Willey and Sam Curran donned the yellow jersey, while in 2009 and 2010, Thilan Thushara did this job for the team.
The Sri Lankan player played four matches for the Super Kings in the third edition of the league. He scalped five wickets at an economy rate of 6.97. His best figures were 2/16, but he could not play a single IPL game after 2010.
5.Doug Bollinger
As mentioned ahead, the Chennai Super Kings love to sign foreign left-arm quick bowlers. Perhaps, their most successful signing was the Australian pacer, Doug Bollinger. He played 27 games for the franchise and scalped 37 wickets.
In his last season, Bollinger got a chance to play six matches, where he dismissed eight batsmen. His best figures were 3/24 in the 2012 edition, but CSK did not decide to keep him in the team for the future tourneys.
