IPL 2021 auction: Chennai set to increase their budget by firing THESE 2 ex-India players

The MS Dhoni-led Chennai side finished seventh in the Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) season last November. Their worst-ever seasonal outing has apparently evoked a change in the outlook of their squad, with recent reports indicating that the franchise is likely to part ways with quite a few of their battle-hardened players ahead of the IPL 2021 auction. According to a report by InsideSport, the Chennai franchise is about to release cricketers like Murali Vijay and Piyush Chawla in order to boost up their players’ purse.

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IPL 2021 auction: Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay likely to not reprise their Chennai roles

Piyush Chawla set the cash registers ringing at the IPL 2020 auction event back in December 2019. After much competition between the bidding committees, Chennai secured the veteran spinner for ₹6.75 crore. However, the cricketer returned with a below par performance, yielding just six wickets in the seven league matches he played for the franchise in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Moreover, Chawla was also expensive in his spells, leaking runs at an economy rate of 9.09.

On the other hand, seasoned opener Murali Vijay played just three matches for Chennai in the Dream11 IPL 2020 season. He scored 32 runs at an average of 10.67 and maintained a strike-rate of 74.41. If the franchise ends up releasing Vijay before deadline of submitting their retained players’ list, the Chennai-based batsman will add another ₹2 crore to their purse, thus getting their purse renewed by Chennai securing ₹8.75 crore.

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Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 a testing ground ahead of IPL 2021 auction

As per the report, the Chennai outfit is keeping a close eye in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. Considering the number of players they are set to omit from their submission list, one can assume that the franchise will be looking at the performance of emerging and impressive youngsters throughout the course of the tournament. Additionally, the MS Dhoni-led side will also look into the performances of several of their own veteran stars who failed to perform in their Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign like Kedar Jadhav among others.

Piyush Chawla, who plays for Gujarat in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, has had a mixed bag so far this season. He has played five matches in the ongoing T20 tournament and went wicketless on three occasions. However, he ended up picking match-winning figures of 3-12 against Uttarakhand and 2-10 against Chhattisgarh to remain in contention for his IPL 2021 reprisal for Chennai.

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Image source: IPLT20.COM