Rajasthan Royals announced on Thursday that batsman Robin Uthappa has been traded to Chennai Super Kings in an all-cash deal for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.
Uthappa was picked up by the Royals at the IPL auction for the 2020 season and played 12 games for the franchise. The 35-year-old right-hander from Karnataka had scored just 196 runs in the last IPL in UAE.
The franchise said the trade was done as they have several openers in their squad already.
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“We’d like to thank Robbie for his contribution during his time with us.
We do have depth with regards to openers in our squad, therefore when the offer came from CSK, we thought it was a good opportunity for all parties involved. We’d like to wish Robbie all the best for this season at CSK and his future beyond that,” Rajasthan Royals’ COO, Jake Lush McCrum said in a release.
Speaking on his move, Uthappa said, “I really enjoyed my year at the Royals and had a great time being part of this franchise. I am now excited for the next part of my cricketing journey joining CSK for IPL 2021.”
CSK will be Uthappa’s sixth franchise in the cash-rich league. He started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians back in 2008 and later joined Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Now defunct Pune Warriors then bagged Uthappa for 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions. He was later acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders for six seasons starting from 2014 to 2019.
Uthappa has played in every edition of the IPL since the tournament’s inception and has scored 4607 runs from 189 games at a strike rate of 129.99
Rajasthan Royals had released eight players, including star Australia batsman Steve Smith, after the team finished at the bottom of the table in the 2020 edition. Young wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson was named as Rajasthan Royals captain on Wednesday, replacing Smith.
CSK will be without Shane Watson, who has announced his retirement and have released senior players Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla and Murali Vijay.