"Emotions have become slightly excess baggage" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's retentions ahead of the IPL 2022 auction

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opting not to retain their trusted lieutenant in Suresh Raina shows that the IPL franchises are not swayed by emotions.

Raina is the highest run-scorer for CSK across the twelve editions the franchise has been part of the IPL. Along with MS Dhoni, his name has been synonymous with CSK, but the four-time champions opted not to retain him ahead of the IPL 2022 auction.

While reflecting on CSK's retentions in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that some of the franchise's star performers could not be retained. He elaborated:

"Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Chinna Thala (Suresh Raina) are not there. At one time, Chennai and Suresh Raina were hand in hand, no longer. Emotions have become slightly excess baggage when it comes to the IPL."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that CSK's retentions were as per his expectations. Aakash Chopra said:

"CSK had to keep Dhoni with them and they have done that. Along with him are Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad - so they have retained three Indians. The one overseas player is Moeen Ali, we had discussed that these could be the four names."

While CSK have retained Dhoni, he is not the first player on their retention list. Ravindra Jadeja enjoys that pride of place, considering his exploits in the last few editions of the IPL.

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"There would have been a lot of discussions" - Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians' retentions

Aakash Chopra highlighted that the Mumbai Indians had plenty of options to choose from [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra had the following to say about the Indian players retained by the Mumbai Indians:

"Jasprit Bumrah - natural choice, Rohit Sharma - natural choice. After that - Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan - there would have been a lot of discussions on that. I had said that Suryakumar Yadav will be my choice and fortunately, it is their choice as well."

The 44-year-old concluded by pointing out that some of the big-ticket Mumbai Indians players will now be prime targets for the other franchises. Aakash Chopra explained:

"Suryakumar Yadav has been retained and Kieron Pollard is still there. The big absentees, which will be interesting when they go to the IPL auction, are Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Trent Boult and Quinton de Kock. It is being heard that the Ahmedabad franchise is very interested in taking the Pandya brothers."

While Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah would have been sure-shot picks for the Mumbai Indians, they would have been in a dilemma to choose between Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya. They opted to go with Yadav, who has been their most consistent performer with the bat over the last few seasons of the IPL.