IPL 2020 | Kasi Viswanathan quashes rumours; confirms CSK has no foreign slots to accommodate Malan

09/11/2020

On Friday, CSK’s CEO Kasi Viswanathan quashed rumours of Dawid Malan replacing Suresh Raina at No.3 slot for the franchise in the 2020 edition of IPL. Alongside that, the CSK CEO also confirmed that Deepak Chahar has recovered fully from COVID-19 and has started practicing with the squad.

A long month in the CSK camp has gone by, owing to the uncertainty over the involvement of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. However, the franchise has neither named a replacement for the left-handed batsman nor for the veteran off-spinner. The franchise had not yet announced whether they were looking for a replacement for either of the two, who would be missing the tournament.

While reports earlier in the day suggested that the franchise is looking at England’s Dawid Malan to replace fellow left-handed Raina in the yellow setup, CSK’s CEO Kasi Viswanathan came all guns blazing, quashing the reports and rumours. With the franchise already having eight foreign stars, IPL’s quota policy does not allow them to recruit another international player, as confirmed by CSK’s CEO.

"This is news to me as well because our quota of foreign players is already full. So I don't know how we can have another foreigner in the squad," Viswanathan was quoted as saying by ANI, reported News18.

However, he was quick in answering that the Rajasthan pacer Deepak Chahar, who tested positive for COVID-19, has recovered completely from the virus and has got the necessary clearance before Friday’s practise session. The news of Chahar returning is a big boost for CSK, who would be hoping to field the pacer in their first game of the season against Mumbai on September 19.

"Deepak has all the necessary clearance from the CSK and BCCI side and will start training from today," he added.