Harbhajan Singh has followed Suresh Raina out of IPL 2020 as the Punjab-based off-spinner announced on Twitter that he will skip the IPL for the first time in his career. Singh, who played for Mumbai Indians from 2008 to 2017, had joined Chennai Super Kings in 2018.
He won the trophy with CSK in 2018 and made it to the finals in 2019. Although Chennai might not be able to get an experienced player like Singh, here are the five players who can possibly replace him in the Chennai Super Kings team.
5.R Vinay Kumar
Former 3-time IPL winner R Vinay Kumar surprisingly went unsold in the 2020 IPL Auction. Kumar has played for four IPL franchises in the past and his right-arm medium-pace could prove to be a match-winning factor for Chennai in the UAE.
Kumar was a part of the KKR team in IPL 2014, and in the next three years, he won two titles with Mumbai Indians. He can support Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur in the fast bowling attack.
4.Rahul Shukla
Rahul Shukla had played for Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils in the past, but the Jharkhand-based player has been away from the IPL since the year 2014.
The right-arm quick hails from Jharkhand and MS Dhoni might have seen him play closely. Since he is quick with his pace, he could be a valuable addition to CSK.
3.Yusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan is another former 3-time IPL winning team member, who has performed exceptionally well in the IPL. Surprisingly, the 2011 World Cup winner did not find any bidders in the IPL Auction 2020.
Pathan could be a good replacement for Harbhajan because not only can he bowl right-arm off-spin but he could also turn the matches around with his big-hitting abilities in the batting order.
2.Praveen Dubey
Azamgarh’s legbreak googly bowler Praveen Dubey has been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past. However, he went unsold in this year’s auction.
Chennai Super Kings have always relied on experience but they could rope in Dubey because he can also be a handy option with the bat. Dubey has picked up 16 wickets in 14 matches of his T20 career. His best figures of 4/19 show that he could make a huge impact in the UAE.
1.Barinder Sran
Chennai Super Kings has a top quality spin bowling attack and in the absence of Harbhajan Singh, the likes of Piyush Chawla, Mitchell Santner, Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma, and Imran Tahir can be backed to do the job to perfection.
However, CSK does not have a capped left-arm Indian fast bowler in their team. So, there lies a small possibility that they could rope in former Sunrisers Hyderabad star Barinder Sran in their team. Sran can lead the Indian pace bowling department of the team along with Chahar and Thakur.
The pitches in the UAE will be supportive to Sran’s bowling nature and styles. It will be interesting to see if CSK decides to sign Sran as Harbhajan’s replacement.
