Former Chennai Super Kings batter Subramaniam Badrinath has slammed the franchise for its lack of scouting over the years in the IPL. The five-time champions have got off to a dismal start in the ongoing season, losing all of their three games.

CSK have lacked with both bat and ball and haven’t been able to bring their best. The Men in Yellow had finished the previous season as the cellar-dwellers of the tournament after they had managed only four wins in 14 games.

Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel, “CSK play DC in the next match. There, Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao watched live every match around the world and around leagues in India. Who has done something similar for CSK? They have seemingly just picked two players for 14 crores based on some anonymous suggestion. Nobody has actually seen the player with a trained eye.”

“They have scouts, but they need to invest heavily in finding the right scout. Though Mahela Jayawardene and Ricky Ponting coached MI, it was John Wright who identified Bumrah and Hardik. This is where CSK are lacking, with no proper investment in scouting.”

Badrinath questioned CSK for their handling of Sameer Rizvi. The youngster was picked by CSK for INR 8.40 crores in the IPL 2024 auction but was released after he could not deliver while batting at number six. DC signed Rizvi in the 2025 mega auction and he has already played two match-winning knocks for the franchise this season.

“Just picking Sameer Rizvi for a big amount and playing him at No.6 and then releasing him is of no use. That’s where the scout has to say how he has done well at the top of the order and that he has seen it himself. The scout should push for retaining him with more information,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).

CSK will host DC at Chepauk on Saturday