Chennai Super Kings are the joint-most successful franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) along with Mumbai Indians, having won five titles.
They have wisely spent their auction budgets, and have not spent unreal money behind one solitary player. MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming have always believed in experience and continuity of playing personnel.
However, the CSK franchise has not shied away from spending ransoms at the recent IPL Auctions. The management has backed the coach to great heights, and have made some important acquisitions to strengthen the squad in the recent seasons.
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Ahead of IPL 2024, The Sporting News takes a look at CSK's five most expensive players purchased at the auctions.
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Mumbai Indians' most expensive auction buys: Ben Stokes heads the list
The experienced Ben Stokes is CSK's most expensive buy at the auction table in IPL history. The Yellow Army acquired the then 31-year-old for a franchise-record fee of 16.5 Crore ahead of IPL 2023.
However, Ben Stokes failed to live up to the price tag paid by the Chennai outfit. The Englishman failed to have any impact on the team in their title-winning season in 2023. Stokes suffered a knee injury mid-season, having featured only twice in the campaign. He was sent back to England midway through the IPL to focus on the recovery process.
Having played a solitary season for Dhoni's side in IPL 2023, Stokes was released by CSK ahead of IPL 2024. This announcement has freed up a huge chunk of the purse for CSK. It remains to be seen if they break the bank to replace the outgoing Englishman - a record-breaking transfer for the team.
At the 2022 IPL auctions, CSK went on a bidding rampage as they bid a whopping INR 14 crore to re-sign Deepak Chahar. Chahar was however injured in the IPL 2022 season and failed to make a single appearance in the season.
Until then, the most CSK had spent on a player at the auctions was INR 9.72 crore on Ravindra Jadeja, way back at the 2012 auction.
Here are CSK's five most expensive picks at the auctions:
| Player | Purchased for (INR) | Year |
| Ben Stokes | 16.5 crore | 2023 |
| Deepak Chahar | 14 crore | 2022 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 9.72 crore | 2012 |
| Krishnappa Gowtham | 9.25 crore | 2021 |
| Kedar Jadhav | 7.8 crore | 2018 |
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