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Ace Indian spinner and Test veteran Ravichandran Ashwin could return to his former IPL side, Chennai Super Kings, before the upcoming season.

Per the latest report, Ashwin is on CSK's bucket list as the IPL 2025 mega auction looms.

CSK retained five players, including their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana and MS Dhoni (as an uncapped player), and now they have a huge pool of players to fill, with Ashwin being one of them, per Times of India (TOI).

Moreover, New Zealand opener Devon Conway is Chennai’s top choice for the Right to Match (RTM) card at the mega auction, the final date and venue of which are undecided yet.

Chennai let go of several superstars, including the Kiwis trio of Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, two of which they bought ahead of IPL 2024.

Though CSK failed to reach the playoffs the previous season, Rachin and Mitchell were among the runs for the franchise.

While the left-handed Ravindra scored 222 runs with the bat, his highest being 61, Mitchell smashed 318 runs from 13 outings.

On the other hand, Conway, who missed the previous season with an injury, was CSK’s top scorer in IPL 2023, hitting 672 runs and striking at nearly 140 (139.71).

He scored nine fifties, with his best being 92*.

Chennai won the IPL that year, equalling Mumbai Indians’ record for most IPL titles (5).

Meanwhile, Chennai’s top picks would be a top-order Indian batter and an experienced pacer to lead the attack.

CSK let go of Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Chahar and Simarjeet Singh, alongside Sri Lankan T20 spinner Maheesh Theekshana.

Given how much CSK values loyalty and considering their pattern during previous IPL auctions, wherein they chased their core players, they are likely to go after the same set of players this time.

Rishabh Pant to CSK?
Having left with INR 55 crores in their auction purse, CSK are reportedly keen to get Rishabh Pant on board at the upcoming auction.

Though they have set a separate budget for Pant, CSK is believed to not go beyond the INR 25 crore mark.

Given MS Dhoni’s stance in the league, with his IPL career in the twilight stage, Chennai will aim to bring a high-profile keeper-batter to replace him.

With Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul among the top Indian cricketers to enter the IPL 2025 mega auction, Chennai could be competing with several franchises over bagging the services of any of them should they fail to get Pant on the board.