Former India Opener’s Bold IPL 2025 Prediction: CSK to Pursue KL Rahul
Cricket enthusiasts, hold onto your seats! Former India opener Aakash Chopra has made a bold prediction that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will definitely go after KL Rahul in the upcoming IPL 2025 auction.
Rahul, who recently parted ways with the Lucknow Super Giants, has decided to register his name in the mega auction scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Jeddah. The star wicketkeeper-batter has not played a T20I for India since the 2022 T20 World Cup and is not in the current shortest format setup. However, his versatility – batting, wicketkeeping, and captaincy – make him a valuable asset for any team.
Chopra suggests that CSK, who have already retained their last year’s captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, will look to sign Rahul as a successor to their legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni.
“What all do they need? I feel they need a successor to Dhoni, a wicketkeeper-batter and it’s great if they get an Indian. Everyone is saying, let me also say – he is more than 30 years old, is going to be a father very soon and everyone has written him off as well, so he is right for Chennai, that’s KL Rahul. So they will definitely go for KL Rahul,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
However, the former cricketer-turned-commentator acknowledged that it won’t be easy for CSK to get Rahul, as they have an INR 55 crore purse in the auction, which won’t allow them to bid massively for a single player.
“We can’t say for how long they will go but they will try to acquire him because the franchise still has ₹55 crore to be spent. So if they can get an Indian like him, Ishan Kishan or Rishabh Pant for ₹10-15 crore, they are going to try.”
Chopra also suggested that Ravichandran Ashwin is another player CSK will target in the auction to strengthen their spin department, as the team has struggled with spin options apart from Ravindra Jadeja.
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