Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan, on Saturday, dropped his first response to the growing rumour over the franchise's potential to sign Rishabh Pant at the mega auction later this month for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rumours around Pant began shortly after the end of India's victorious T20 World Cup campaign, after a media report from Dainik Jagran hinted that Chennai have shown interest in the wicketkeeper-batter for the next season. The speculations eventually peaked after Delhi Capitals did not name Pant in their retention list.

Pant hence became one of the three high-profile Indian players to enter the IPL 2025 mega auction, alongside KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, all of whom led a franchise in the last season and have enlisted themselves in the INR 2 crore price category for the two-day mega event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

So will CSK be part of the battle to acquire Pant at the mega auction? Kasi, in conversation with former CSK batter Ambati Rayudu on Provoke TV, did not rule out possibility, but admitted that they are more keen on getting their own players back, thus retaining a core line-up from the 2024 season, rather than chasing the big-name players with a small auction purse.

"We had discussions with Ruturaj, the captain, MS (Dhoni) and coach Stephen Fleming before we decided on the retentions. We were very clear that the players that helped the team grow, stabilise in the previous years were the ones very important for the CSK team to continue further," Kasi said.

"It was very easy to decide on the retentions -- Gaikwad, Jaddu, MS, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana. But we knew that if we retain these players, we would have a lesser purse to go into the auction. We knew that we wouldn't be able to compete with the other teams when it comes to the best of the Indian players. I mean, we will still try, but i don't think we'll be able to get them at the auction," he added.

Look at CSK's retention list

CSK re-signed Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, and MS Dhoni ahead of the auction, leaving them with an auction purse of INR 55 crore. Going by Kasi's words, they are more likely to acquire back Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway and Maheesh Theekshana among their overseas players from the previous season and Indian options include Deepak Chahar. Not to forget, they do have one Right-To-Match card option available for the auction.

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