Hardus Viljoen joins CSK as a net bowler for IPL 2021

The Chennai Super Kings have roped in South Africa’s Hardus Viljoen as a net bowler for their training camp in Chennai. CSK have Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi and Josh Hazlewood as their overseas pacers but most of them hasn’t arrived in Chennai yet. Viljoen has played 126 T20 games in his career, picking up 140 wickets at an economy of 8.12. The pacer, who went unsold in the IPL auction 2021, has previously played for Kings XI Punjab. Earlier, CSK roped in two uncapped Sri Lankans, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana as net bowlers.

After a miserable 2020 edition, Chennai will be hoping for a change in their fortune. After a failed attempt to buy Glenn Maxwell, Chennai settled for England all rounder Moeen Ali in the 2021 auction. Ali can provide the stability in the middle order and can be handy with the ball as well. CSK also bought Krishnappa Gowtham for a whopping 9.25 crores. Chennai will be playing 6 games in Delhi and Kolkata and Gowtham can play a crucial role with the ball.

They also roped in Cheteshwar Pujara and might use him as an opener. CSK failed to deliver solid opening stands in the last season and that was one of the prime reasons for their miserable performance. Pujara at the top can play the sheet anchor role, while players like Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali can play their natural game. Bhagat Verma, Harishankar Reddy and Hari Nishanth are the three uncapped players CSK bought at the auction. All of them have been very impressive in the domestic circuit.