New Delhi: India pacer Deepak Chahar, who was bought back by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping sum of Rs 14 crore, Sunday said that he was travelling with Team India to Kolkata from Ahmedabad in a bus and was watching the IPL 2022 auction on his mobile phone.
He added that he did not want the price to go more than Rs 14 crore, fearing CSK may pull out of the bidding war.
Chahar became the most expensive Indian fast bowler at an IPL auction when CSK paid Rs 14 crore to secure the services of the India bowler on Day 1 of the mega auction on Saturday.
“We (Indian team) were travelling from Ahmedabad to Kolkata. We were watching the auction on the phone, the whole team was watching it. Everyone was asking ‘kitna ho gaya?’ When I reached till Rs 14 crore, I was thinking ‘I should not go for more than this’ because if CSK pulled out after that, I would have been very sad. I wanted to play for CSK because I can’t imagine myself playing for any other colour,” Chahar told Star Sports.
“At one time, I thought it was too much. As a CSK player, I also want the team to build a good team and we can buy some other players.”
Chahar was not retained by CSK as the management went for Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali as their four picks ahead of the auction.
He revealed that he never had a discussion with skipper Dhoni or the management on retention, but was confident that the four-time champions would pick him up.
“I am really happy to be back in Chennai Super Kings. I don’t think there will be any difference. When I go back, I will be seeing the same faces over the last four years, maybe over the last six years because I was with the Pune side and half the players were there. I could not have asked for a better auction than this,” said Chahar on Sunday.
“I have never spoken about all this to Mahi bhai or the CSK management (about retention). They just assured me that in 2018, I met Kasi sir and Srinivasan sir and they told me that I was going to play for Yellow always.
“I took his word that day and after that, I have never spoken about retention or anything. Before the auction also, I didn’t speak anything. I knew that CSK would pick me,” he added.
