Chennai Super Kings helped raise quite a few eyebrows when they went after leg-spinner Piyush Chawla at Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction on Thursday in Kolkata.
CSK emerged successful in a fierce bidding war and bought Piyush Chawla for Rs 6.75 crore. With Piyush’s buy, Chennai Super Kings now have a battery of spinners, including 3 leggies in their squad for IPL 2020.
Piyush Chawla joins a list of spinners, including Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Harbhajan Singh apart from part-timers in Suresh Raina and Kedar Jadhav.
Towards the end of the auction, Chennai Super Kings also bought R Sai Kishore, the left-arm spinner who finished as the highest wicket-taker in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2019.
Players bought at Auction: Piyush Chawla (Rs 6.75 Crore), Sam Curran (Rs 5.5 Crore), Josh Hazlewood (Rs 2 Crore), R Sai Kishore (Rs 20 Lakhs)
Shedding light on the strategy to buy Piyush Chawla even as the squad is filled with spinners, bowling coach L Balaji said the leg-spinner adds balance to the side, especially when they will be playing overseas pacers in the side.
“We wanted one all-rounder. In Sam Curran, we have one. Piyush (Chawla), the experience he brings in is great and he has been doing well since the inception (IPL) days,” L Balaji told Star Sports during Thursday’s Auction.
“He will give a balance to the side.
“Josh (Hazlewood) is someone who is a bit like no one has seen in India. He can be our X-factor.
“Our conditions suit spinners. It’s good to have as many spinners as we can. We have a lot more options. MS Dhoni likes to have spinners, especially leg-spinners. He is a good buy.
