Former Chennai Super Kings batter Suresh Raina believes the five-time IPL champions should look at buying the in-form Sarfaraz Khan at the auction on Tuesday.
Raina said that the Mumbai batter's red-hot domestic form makes him a timely and value-driven option.
Sarfaraz, 28, has strengthened his case in the build-up to the auction with a stunning knock of 64 from 25 balls against Haryana to power Mumbai to a four-wicket victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He has piled up 256 runs from six innings in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at a strike-rate of 182.85, averaging 64.
"I think he is in great form. We saw earlier that when Venkatesh Iyer was bought for a big amount, the form wasn't quite there. Sarfaraz, on the other hand, is batting really well right now. You don't get
"The form Sarfaraz is in, even if he plays four or six matches and wins you two games, that 7 crore will be fully justified. After his first-class performances, he has also been included in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He is a form player, following a process. Chennai's wicket is technically sound, and if he gets set in a system like CSK, where the focus is on winning games, I think CSK will benefit greatly from his form," he added.
CSK have retained 16 players -- including four overseas, spending a total of Rs 81.60 crores on retention. They enter the IPL 2026 mini auction with Rs 43.40 crore in their kitty. They brought in Sanju Samson in a high-profile trade with Rajasthan Royals, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran going the other way.
List of 16 players retained: Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Jamie Overton, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmad, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sanju Samson (Traded), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel.
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