Dhoni, Raina, Bravo, Jadeja, Ashwin retained by CSK

Indian Premier League heavyweights Chennai have made full use of the tournament retention policy ahead of the auctions next month as they have retained as many as five players from the previous side. The rules allowed for any team to keep 5 of their previous players, with a maximum of 4 capped India players.

CSK have been one of the most successful teams in the tournament having gone past the league stage successfully on every occasion, and they opted to retain the core of the side with skipper MS Dhoni, middle-order batsman Suresh Raina, off-spinner R Ashwin and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo all staying back with the side.

Dhoni, Raina and Ashwin have been with the side since its inception while Jadeja and Bravo are more recent inductees. Albie Morkel and Murali Vijay, who were both retained by CSK the last time, were not kept back by the side.

The 38-year old Michael Hussey was also not retained despite being the highest run-getter in the previous IPL season.

For every player retained, a fixed amount will be deducted from the franchise's auction purse. Rs 125 million for player one, Rs 95 million for player two, Rs 75 million for player three, Rs 55 million for player four and Rs 40 million for player five. That adds up Rs 600 million, leaving CSK with just Rs 210 million to spend at the auction. The amount deducted for each retained player is not necessarily the exact fee agreed to between the player and the franchise.