CSK skipper MS Dhoni with Monu Kumar Singh
Two seasons back, when Chennai Super Kings had made their return to the league after two years of suspension owing to corruption charges, the franchise had picked one other player from their captain's native land, Jharkhand. Pacer Monu Kumar Singh was roped in during the 2018 auction at his base price of INR 20 lakhs. And after warming the bench for 44 straight matches, across the last two and a half seasons, Chennai finally handed Monu his debut cap, for the IPL 2020 game against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Dubai International Stadium.
Monu replaced Shardul Thakur in the playing XI as part of the two changes that CSK made for their 12th game this season with the objective of "looking at faces who haven't got chances," as explained by MS Dhoni.
CSK later shared the picture of Monu with the skipper and captioned it, "MS makes his debut! #WhistlePodu for namma Monu Singh! Lion faceYellow heart #Yellove #WhistleFromHome #RCBvCSK."
Monu, a bowling all-rounder, who was part of India's 2014 U-19 World Cup squad, has so far played 22 T20s for Jharkhand, picking 25 wickets at an average of 22 and an economy rate of 6.90. In the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament, he picked 10 wickets in nine games.
"I’m excited to be picked up by CSK on my Indian Premier League debut, more so because Mahi bhaiya (MS Dhoni) is leading the side and he knows how to extract the best out of me... he knows my bowling," Monu had said after being roped in by CSK in 2018.
"I got to learn a lot under Dhoni during that Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign," he further added.
Chennai, on Sunday, take on RCB with the aim to mathematically stay alive in the contest. They have so far lost eight of their 11 matches to stand bottom of the table.
