Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu has shared his views on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) trading strategy ahead of the IPL 2027 retention deadline. Notably, CSK was involved in a direct player swap with SRH recently.
While CSK got Liam Livingstone and Jack Edwards, SRH roped in Nathan Ellis and Khaleel Ahmed from the Chennai-based franchise. Speaking on Cricbuzz, Rayudu reckoned that CSK bought Livingstone to promote Dube up the order after he couldn’t create an impact as a finisher last season.
“There is a lot of thanksgiving going on there for CSK in the last six months. I can make sense of why they have done this because they want Dube to bat higher with Brevis because Dube has been their go-to finisher in the last season, which hasn’t clearly worked. And also, Ellis had been brought in place of Pathirana last year, but Ellis could not be a part of the setup for a long time,” Rayudu said on Cricbuzz.
Further, Rayudu remarked that the Chennai-based outfit failed to have proper all-rounders in the lower middle-order, which resulted in their exit from the league phase. He went on to add that CSK think tank is looking to fit in all-rounders at No.7 and No.8 ahead of the mini-auction.
“I just think that they need a finisher; that is where they are relying on Livingstone. Overton and Jack Edwards are someone they have brought in to bat at No. 7/8 because Akeal Hosein can also do that job for them. I think they want to fit in those all-rounders at that seven and eight because that has been an area where things have not been that great for CSK in the last three years,” he added.
CSK ended the IPL 2026 season in eighth place, failing to make it to the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
