Robin Uthappa traded to CSK ahead of IPL 2021 auction

Ahead of the 2021 IPL auction, Rajasthan Royals have traded wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa to Chennai Super Kings in an all-cash deal. The Kodagu-born batsman smacked 196 runs in 12 matches in the 13th IPL edition. Uthappa was tried in different batting positions in the previous season.

This will be the sixth franchise for the keeper-batsman in the cash-rich league history. Uthappa started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians back in 2008 and later joined RCB for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Pune Warriors India bagged him for 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was later acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders for six seasons from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, he was a part of the Royals.

Here’s the tweet from CSK:

Robin is our newest Bat-Man! Welcoming you with #Yellove Vanakkam @robbieuthappa! #WhistlePodu ?? pic.twitter.com/MYVpwvV2ZG

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 21, 2021

The Chennai-based franchise has a purse of INR 22.9 crores going into this year’s auction. They have a total of seven slots available for the mini-auction with one being the overseas slot. With Uthappa joining the franchise, it would be interesting to see who keeps the wickets. Interestingly, the franchise released Kedar Jadhav for the upcoming edition.

A total of six players have been released by CSK ahead of the upcoming mini-auction. The franchise is looking to build a team for the future. One can expect the team management to pick some youngsters in the available slots.

List of retained CSK players

Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Josh Hazlewood, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Sai Kishore

List of released CSK players

Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Monu Kumar

Purse Available: 22.9 crores