Chennai Super Kings ropes in Chawla, Curran

Leg-spinner Chawla turned out to be a surprise hit with the franchises and was eventually bought by three-time champion CSK for a whopping Rs 6.75 crore. Tamil Nadu left-arm orthodox bowler Sai Kishore, who was initially unsold, was picked up by Super Kings in the second phase of the auction.

CSK coach Stephen Fleming said his side traded hard for Chawla because he shares a “great relationship” with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, besides being a quality leggie. The Kiwi added it was a well-thought out decision as CSK heavily relies on spinners in Chepauk’s low and slow wicket. “He’s a different type of a bowler when compared to Karn. We have to make some decisions around how to fit in all of them, but it was an opportunity that came up and we took it. We have a pretty well-balanced squad. Our home ground is very spin dominant, so having a lot of slow bowlers is not a bad thing,” Fleming told Star Sports.

All-rounder Sam Curran, who represented Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019, will join the CSK setup after being acquired for Rs 5.5 crore. Fleming said Curram too was a good pick, considering his all-round abilities. “Well, there were a lot of players. (Pat) Cummins is one that I think most people identified but we didn’t have a lot of money. So we had to be very smart. We like Curran. Yes, he’s a left-arm seamer who can bat,” he added. “He has a great attitude towards the game, he really gets into it. He played well against us in the past. He’s playing well for England. So he fits in nicely with Dwayne Bravo in that sort of seven-eight position.” Fleming revealed CSK went for Australia pacer Josh Hazzlewood as he will add more firepower to its bowling attack.

“Like other teams, we were just trying to add some pieces and then just work through the combinations,” he said. “You can get confused but we’re actually pretty happy with our group. So it was just a case of trying to add afew different things.”