While Chennai Super Kings are close to bringing Sanju Samson to Chepauk, their pursuit of Washington Sundar has met a dead end. The five-time champions had expressed their interest in bringing home the local boy, who is part of Gujarat Titans, as a replacement for R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. However, Gujarat have declined the offer as they expect him to play a vital role going forward.
After Chennai opened the trade talks with Rajasthan Royals about the swap deal involving Jadeja and Samson, they had been alternatively looking at other spin bowling resources to replace their highest-ever wicket taker. For a team that has centred its gameplan around spinners, the retirement of Ashwin and the exit of Jadeja means, they are without a prominent Indian tweaker. Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad, who bowls left-arm wrist-spin, is the lone reputed spinner in the line-up with Shreyas Gopal there as a back-up option. Given their resources are thin in the department, Chennai explored the idea of bringing Washington to the franchise, which would have reunited him with head coach Stephen Fleming. Washington’s maiden IPL season, where he showed he can be a reliable powerplay bowler, came under Fleming’s watch with Rising Pune Supergiants.
Ever since the Impact Player came around, Washington’s opportunities have reduced with Sunrisers Hyderabad benching him constantly through the 2023 and 2024 season. Last season, Gujarat acquired him for Rs 3.2 crore and only played 6 matches. But since then his stocks have increased tremendously as he has become an all-format player for India. Most importantly, his batting, in particular, power-hitting has shown huge signs of improvement as was evident during the T20I series Down Under.
A versatile bowler who can bowl in any situations, even in the batting department Washington brings flexibility. With shots all round the park and ability to improvise, the 26-year-old remains a batsman, who has been under-utilised as he has shown in the past that he can cause damage at the top as an opener. Given these factors, Gujarat are unwilling to let go of him doesn’t come as a surprise.
With Washington trade collapsing, it would be interesting to see how Chennai go about filling their spinners’ slot. From the very start, it has been a franchise that has invested heavily in the spinners with Muttiah Muralitharan, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati forming the core in the initial years before Jadeja joined them in 2012. Thereafter, the franchise used the likes of Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Moeen Ali to good use in their title runs and now find themselves in a situation where there isn’t much to choose from the bank.
While the MA Chidambaram Stadium hasn’t been assisting the spinners off-late much to the dismay of the franchise, they still remain a team that prefers having a strong spin attack. But whether they will be able to get a big name Indian spinner remains a question. Most franchises usually don’t prefer playing two overseas spinners as it affects their team balance. There is a strong likelihood that two local spinners with India cap to their experience could potentially enter the auction, but they could come at a huge asking price.
For a franchise that is looking to overhaul their squad and make it competitive again, Chennai will have a lot to do at the auction.
