In an unexpected buy, MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have spent almost half their salary cap on Piyush Chawla.
The spinner has been bought by CSK for Rs 6.75 crore after they beat Kings XI Punjab in a fierce bidding war. He could be effective on the slow tracks at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, CSK’s home ground.
Chawla had placed his base price at Rs 1 crore after being released by Kolkata Knight Riders in the off season.
Interestingly, Dhoni’s CSK squad already boasts of a handful of spinners with Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Karn Sharma already on their payroll. It will be interesting to see how much game time Chawla now gets in the upcoming season.
The buy also leaves CSK with very little funds going forward. They had come into the auction with Rs 14.60 crore but having retained most of their squad from 2019, they had just 5 open slots.