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Chennai: Piyush Chawla is no stranger to Chennai having been part of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association first division league over the last few years. And from Thursday, Chawla’s connection with the city went a notch further as Chennai Super Kings engaged in a bidding war with Kings XI Punjab to bag the veteran 30-year-old leg-spinner in the IPL 2020 auction.
Led by coach Stephen Fleming at the auction table, Chennai Super Kings bagged Chawla for a whopping Rs 6.75 crore. A delighted Chawla said that he wasn’t watching the auction and that he got a message from his family stating that he was going to play for CSK.
“I was outside and I got a message that CSK have bagged me in the auction. Chennai is like my second home (having played first division league for so many years) and now I will be with CSK. It's exciting. I have no words to express,” Chawla told Sportskeeda.
Chawla, who has 150 wickets in 157 IPL matches, was released by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2020 auction. Despite having Rs 9.10 crore in their purse, CSK bid fiercely for Chawla and eventually got the leg-spinner.
Chawla, who represents Gujarat in first-class cricket, said he “was hopeful” that CSK would back him and that he is looking forward to playing under ‘Thala’ Dhoni.
“I was hopeful that CSK would back me and it's one of the teams I really wanted to play for. Now it's going to happen. MS Dhoni is the world's best captain and playing under him would be fantastic. I have played under him before for India and now looking forward to this,” Chawla added.
Having gone with Chawla, CSK now have three leg-spinners in their side including their latest buy - Imran Tahir and Karn Sharma being the other two. Chennai Super Kings welcomed their new addition with a tweet.
Chawla was part of the World title-winning Indian teams under Dhoni in 2007 (World T20) and 2011 (50-overs World Cup).
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