Robin Uthappa traded off to MS Dhoni-led Chennai from Rajasthan ahead of IPL 2021 auction

Just a day after franchises' submitted ir players' retention list to BCCI, MS Dhoni-led Chennai have anunced ir first acquiring of tring window which has been opened up until February 4. Chennai have acquired services of veteran wicket-keeper batsman Robin Uthappa from Rajasthan in an all cash deal, franchise anunced on late Thursday night. move comes despite team's criticism of housing several senior players, a factor which contributed to its dismal performance in IPL 2020. 

Taking to Twitter, franchise anunced its first tre of season on Thursday ding to its 18-man strong squ that it retained on Wednesday. franchise let go of veteran spinner Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh along with Kedar Jhav increase its purse amount in a bid to inject fresh blood into lineup during mini-auction slated to be held in February.

Speaking on development, Robin Uthappa said, "I really enjoyed my year at Royals and h a great time being part of this franchise. I am w excited for next part of my cricketing journey joining Chennai for IPL 2021."

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After release and retention list anunced on Wednesday, Chennai h Rs 22.9 crores remaining in its purse for auction. details of Robin Uthappa's signings have t been me public yet. Prior to Uthappa, Bangalore roped in Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel from Delhi via tre window on Wednesday night.

• List of players retained by Chennai: 

N Jageesan, R Gaikw, KM Asif, R Jeja, MS Dhoni, J Hazlewood, K Sharma, A Rayudu, S Raina, I Tahir, D Chahar, Faf du Plessis, S Thakur, M Santner, D Bravo, L Ngidi, S Curran, S Kishore.

• Players Released: 

Kedar Jhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, S Watson, M Singh

RE | Chennai Retain Core Despite Dismal IPL 2020; Chawla, Vijay & Jhav Amongst Those Released

Rajasthan release Steve Smith 

Ahe of mini-auction for IPL 2021 slated to be held in February, Rajasthan has let go of ir captain Steve Smith after a series of poor performances in previous edition. Champions of inaugural IPL edition, Rajasthan finished with a wooden spoon in IPL 2020. ouster of Steve Smith from Rajasthan means that franchise will have a new captain for upcoming edition of IPL. 

Rajasthan have anunced that young gun Sanju Samson will le squ in upcoming edition of IPL. youngster, who has played for Delhi before his stint with Rajasthan, was one of key players for squ in IPL 2020. franchise has also anunced that y would be retaining 17 players and will release remaining 8 players ahe of mini-auction. Moreover, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been roped in as team's Director of cricket. 

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