Indian fast bowler Deepak Chahar said he wanted to stay with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but understood that the situation during the IPL 2025 auction made it difficult. Chahar was part of CSK from 2018 to 2024 and played an important role in helping the team win three out of their five titles, in 2018, 2021, and 2023. However, he accepted that the auction’s dynamics sometimes lead to changes in teams. CSK’s arch-rivals, Mumbai Indians (MI), outbid them in the 2025 Mega auction and bought Deepak Chahar for ₹9.25 crore. Even though CSK had a limited budget, they fought closely with MI for Chahar up to 9 crores, but in the end, they had to back down.
In an interview with Sports Tak, Deepak Chahar expressed his gratitude to CSK for making a strong effort to keep him during the auction. He also shared that he wanted to continue playing for the franchise.
“Mahi bhai has supported me from the start, that’s why I wanted to go to CSK. But my name came on the second day at the auction, so I had a fair idea that it would be difficult for me to get back to CSK. They had a low purse, but still bid till INR 9 crore despite a purse of INR 13 crore. I had made up my mind that it would be difficult. Last year, my name came first, that’s why it was easier to get back to CSK,” he said.
CSK acquired Deepak Chahar for a whopping ₹14 crore during the IPL 2022 auction, following his impressive performances from 2018 to 2021. While Chahar’s bowling has been consistent, injuries have affected his career, and he has only played a total of 18 matches in the last two seasons.
I had hoped to continue with CSK– Deepak Chahar
While Deepak Chahar expressed his wish to stay with CSK, he was excited about the opportunity to play for Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time IPL champions. At 32, Chahar could form a formidable pace attack alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, if MI chooses to go with that combination.
Interacting with Jio Cinema shortly after he joined MI in the auction, Chahard said,
“I’m quite happy. I had hoped to continue with CSK, but no regrets. Now, I’ll be playing for another great franchise which has won five IPL trophies. I’ll obviously miss playing with MS Dhoni. Mumbai Indians is a great franchise, so I’m really looking forward to playing for them,”
Chahar has pretty decent IPL stats, with 77 wickets in 81 matches at an average of under 29 and an economy rate of 7.98. Additionally, the pacer can contribute valuable lower-order runs, as shown by his IPL batting average and strike rates of 11.43 and 135.59, respectively.