India’s Test cricket specialist Cheteshwar Pujara on Thursday found a bidder for his services with the Chennai Super Kings buying him for his base price of Rs 50 lakh during the mini-auction ahead of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pujara last played in the cash-rich league in May, 2014.
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The three-time IPL winners took to Twitter to hail the top-order batsman. “LION ALERT!
An Indian Whites legend will be in #Yellove this summer! Welcome to the #SuperFam@cheteshwar1!”
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Pujara thanked CSK for showing faith in his abilities, saying, “Thank you for showing the faith. Look forward!”
Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin congratulated Pujara for his spot in this year’s IPL. “So happy for @cheteshwar1. Well deserved!! Go well buddy,” he wrote on Twitter.
Opposing teams also commended the move, with Royal Challengers Bangalore tweeting, “And a deserved round of applause for Team India’s warrior!”
The IPL Twitter handle shared a clip of the moment when Pujara was sold, which the entire auction room commemorated with a round of applause.
Pujara has played a total of 30 IPL matches, with the last appearance coming for the Kings XI Punjab against the Mumbai Indians. He featured as Virender Sehwag’s opening partner that season.
Team India’s ‘Wall’ has scored a total of 390 runs at an average of 20.53.
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CSK had their worst-ever season in the IPL last year, missing out on the playoffs for the first time ever. With key players, such as Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, missing and an ageing core, the Mahindra Singh Dhoni-led side were looking to revamp their squad ahead of this year’s edition.
They released six players, including Shane Watson (retired), Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla and Monu Singh.
They spent big on English all-rounder Moeen Ali, buying him for Rs 7 crore, and Krishnappa Gowtham, coughing up Rs 9.25 crore for the spinner.
