Published 17:47 IST, December 20th 2019
IPL Auction 2020: Piyush Chawla thrilled to reunite with MS Dhoni after last India outing
The Chennai Super Kings were very silent for the whole auction but went all in for a few players. Piyush Chawla was their biggest purchase at INR 6.75 crore.
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India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has been one of the Indian Premier League's most consistent bowlers of all time. On Thursday, when Chawla's name was called out at the auction, he found a lot of interest from the Kings XI Punjab but it was the Chennai Super Kings, who ended up taking Chawla home. The move means that he is all set to reunite with MS Dhoni, who was his captain when he last played for India in 2012.
Piyush Chawla and MS Dhoni: World Cup-winning teammates
The #DaddiesArmy has a brand new member! Welcome to the #SuperFam, Piyush! #SuperAuction #WhistlePodu 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/PTvPSVRNz1
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) December 19, 2019
Piyush Chawla was a part of the squad which finally brought the 50-overWorld Cup back to India after 28 years in April 2011. Chawla's last ODI for India also came in the same tournament against the Netherlands and since then, Chawla has barely worn the Indian jersey. While the leg-spinner kept playing the IPL and domestic cricket, MS Dhoni and he have not shared a dressing room in more than eight years. Chennai fans welcomed Chawla with a lot of warmth and hopefully, Chawla finds it good going for his new team. Chawla was Chennai's most expensive purchase for INR 6.75 crore. He has 150 wickets in 157 IPL matches.
Chawla spoke to a leading Indian news agency after being picked by CSK and commented that he was thrilled about playing under MS Dhoni again. He called CSK the 'best team to play for'. The leg spinner also clarified that he had no bad blood with KKR as the team had communicated their decision to drop him well in advance. Chawla added that Kolkata did not have a pitch that suited his skills anymore, making Chennai the best place to exhibit his talent. He also commented that he was not sure if he would get to play in the final XI because of the presence of Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir.
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IPL Auction 2020: Chennai Super Kings full roster
Now we are truly 24/7 #yellove! #PrideOfT20 #WhistlePodu #SuperFam 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/Y1xISdIvvD
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) December 19, 2019
Chennai Super Kings have retained most of their core for the 2020 season. Here is the full team.
- MS Dhoni (captain)
- Ambati Rayudu
- KM Asif
- Deepak Chahar
- Dwayne Bravo
- Faf du Plessis
- Harbhajan Singh
- Imran Tahir
- Narayan Jagadeesan
- Karn Sharma
- Kedar Jadhav
- Lungi Ngidi
- Mitchell Santner
- Monu Kumar
- Murali Vijay
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Shane Watson
- Shardul Thakur
- Suresh Raina
- Sam Curran
- Piyush Chawla
- Josh Hazlewood
- R Sai Kishore
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15:24 IST, December 20th 2019