Dwayne Bravo of Chennai Super Kings celebrates the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan of Sunrisers Hyderabad during their IPL T20 cricket match in Pune. File Photo: PTIMS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings entered the Indian Premier League 2020 auction (IPL 2020 auction) with the second-smallest available purse, and bought only four players — Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore and Sam Curran.
Not only was Chawla the most expensive buy for CSK but the price he received (Rs 6.75 crore) was also the highest offered to an Indian cricketer in the IPL 2020 auction. Chennai’s desperate measure to grab Chawla for a hefty sum came as a surprise to many, given that they already have five spinners in the squad. Head coach Stephen Fleming, however, clarified after the auction that MS Dhoni has a good relationship with the leg spinner. "We rate him very highly. The captain has a great relationship with him. He is a quality leg spinner and he is very different from Karn Sharma. We have a balanced side; we have always favoured spin. Our home ground is very spin-friendly," said Fleming.
Chennai Super Kings also bought Australian pacer, Josh Hazlewood at his base price of Rs 2 crore. He would prove useful as the team do not have any other genuine overseas fast bowler apart from Lungi Ngidi. In the IPL 2020 auction, CSK also strengthened themselves in the all-rounder department by picking Englishman Sam Curran for Rs 5.5 crore. Curran can fit into the playing 11 during away games. CSK's fourth buy was uncapped R Sai Kishore, who was picked at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
Here are the key numbers for CSK after the IPL 2020 auction:Squad Strength: 24
Overseas players: 8
Players bought in auction: 4 (Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran and R Sai Kishore)
Purse remaining: Rs 15 lakh
Full list of Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2020 players along with their salaries: