CSK coach Stephen Fleming explains why they bid so hard for Piyush Chawla in the auctions

Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming on Thursday said his IPL side bid hard for veteran spinner Piyush Chawla because he shares a “great relationship” with captain MS Dhoni, while also being an experienced bowler.

Chawla was among those who were sold at a price higher than what fans had imagined. Having been released by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the auctions, Chawla was bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping Rs 6.75 crore. The CSK coach feels it was a well-thought out decision as CSK rely a lot on spinners in Chepauk’s low and slow wicket.

“We traded very hard (for Chawla) and certainly the captain has a great relationship with him. He’s proven that he’s a quality leg-spinner which we value very highly,” the CSK coach said.

“He’s a different type of bowler than Karn Sharma. We also had to make some decisions around how all fits in but it was an opportunity that came up and we took it. We have a pretty well-balanced squad. We’ve always favoured spin, our home ground is very spin dominant, so having a lot of spinners is not a bad thing.”

Fleming also spoke about picking Sam Curran for Rs 5.5 crore, saying he was worth the investment 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. Sam Curran we liked. Yes, he’s a left-arm seamer who can bat,” he said.

“He has a great attitude towards the game, he really gets into the game. He played well against us in the past. He’s playing well for England. So he fits in nicely with Bravo in that sort of seven-eight position.”

Fleming further reasoned out why CSK went for Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, saying he will add to the pace department when they play outside Chennai.

“And getting Hazlewood at the end is to add a little bit of firepower with (Lungi) Ngidi. Like other teams, we are 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 a few things different.”

 

 

 

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