Chennai Super Kings realized quite late in IPL 2025 that it was the need of the hour to pivot from depending on old players to trusting younger talents. And that approach reaped instant rewards for the five-time champions, albeit it did not help them from creating unwanted history by finishing at the bottom of the points table for the first time. From Dewald Brevis to Ayush Mhatre, it was the youngsters who stepped up when veterans like Ashwin, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda among others failed to live up to the expectations.
November 15 is the deadline for the teams to finalise on their retentions before the IPL 2026 mini-auction. The mini-auction is scheduled to be held in December 13-15 window later this year. Ahead of IPL 2026, let’s take a look at five young players CSK should retain.
5 young players CSK should retain for IPL 2026
1. Dewald Brevis
After going unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction, the Proteas star was signed as a mid-season injury replacement for Gurjapneet Singh at a steal deal of Rs 2.2 crore. ‘Baby AB’ was arguably the best player for CSK in IPL 2025, going on to amass 225 runs in just 6 matches, averaging 37.50 and striking at 180. With 2 fifties, 13 fours and 17 sixes to his name in just a few games, Dewald announced that he was here to stay in CSK and is their future Mr. Dependable.
2. Ayush Mhatre
Another mid-season signing who sizzled for CSK is the 18-year-old Mumbai star. Despite appearing for trails before the IPL 2025 auction, Mhatre went unsold and instead was signed as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s replacement after the start of the season. Ayush emerged as CSK’s best opener, amassing 240 runs in 7 matches, averaging 34.28. With 31 fours and 11 sixes in IPL 2025, Mhatre drove home the point that the young aggression displayed by him is exactly what the team needs in the future.
3. Urvil Patel
Although the youngster played just 3 games in IPL 2025 after being signed as replacement for Vansh Bedi, Patel left no boxes unticked to remind CSK that he is just the middle-order batter they were looking for and could also possibly be MS Dhoni’s replacement in the future. He managed to score just 68 runs but showed glimpses of his ability to be destructive in the middle-order.
4. Noor Ahmad
Another no-brainer retention choice for CSK is their leading wicket-taker in IPL 2025 – Noor Ahmad. Bagged for Rs 10 crore, the Afghanistan bowler fully justified his hefty price tag, finishing with 24 wickets from 14 matches. He was MS Dhoni’s go-to bowler in the season and the most reliable one when the team needed wickets.
5. Andre Siddarth
Uncapped India star Andre Siddarth was signed for Rs 30 lakh in the IPL 2025 auction. Although he warmed the bench for the entre season, the 19-year-old talent from Tamil Nadu has been quite impressive over the last year in domestic cricket.
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