IPL Auction 2021: Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara back in IPL fold after CSK buy him at base price

Chennai: Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara on Thursday returned to Indian Premier League after six years when Chennai Super Kings bought him at his base price of Rs 50 lakh at the IPL players’ auction. The last time Pujara featured in the lucrative T20 league was for Kings XI Punjab, now re-christened Punjab Kings, in 2014. [caption id=“attachment_9320871” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Cheteshwar Pujara plays for Kings X1 Punjab during the 2014 Indian Premier League at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah. IPL/SPORTZPICS[/caption] The 33-year-old Pujara, who went unsold in the last few editions, tweeted: “Thank you for showing the faith. Look forward!” He had last month expressed confidence that if given an opportunity, he would definitely do well for his franchise. No sooner had CSK bought Pujara in a one-sided bidding affair, the entire hall applauded the three-time IPL champions for their gesture. “We welcome the legend, Che #Bujji with a super cute applause from the auction hall! #WhistlePodu #SuperAuction,” CSK wrote on its official Twitter page. Pujara has been one of India’s most dependable batsmen at No 3 position in Test matches. But, he has not been able to replicate that performance in the limited over formats. Pujara has 13,834 runs from 83 Tests, but played only five ODIs in which he scored just 130 runs. He has not played a single T20 International match. He has so far featured in 30 IPL matches, scoring 390 runs at an average of 20.53 with a strike rate of 99.74. He has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in the past.