Harbhajan Singh confirms he will not play for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021

Harbhajan Singh has rested all speculations as he confirmed on Twitter that he would not be playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021 ahead of the player retention on Wednesday. On his official Twitter account, Harbhajan Singh said, "As my contract comes to an end with @ChennaiIPL, playing for this team was a great experience..beautiful memories made &some great friends which I will remember fondly for years to come..Thank you @ChennaiIPL, management, staff and fans for a wonderful 2years.. All the best". Harbhajan Singh was bought for Rs 2 crore by Chennai Super Kings when the franchise made their comeback in the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League after serving a two-year ban due to the spot-fixing scandal. In 2018, Harbhajan Singh was one of the key players who helped Chennai Super Kings return to the IPL in style by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final to win the title for the third time.

The decision by Harbhajan Singh has only confirmed speculation that Chennai Super Kings might release the majority of their stars and build a new team keeping in mind IPL 2021 and IPL 2022. Chennai Super Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs of the tournament for the first time in their history as they finished seventh in the IPL 2020 points table. There are speculations that Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Karn Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir and Kedar Jadhav will all be released by the franchise as they look to get some new talent on the side after their poor show in IPL 2020. Chennai Super Kings have the least purse in IPL 2021 with Rs 15 lakhs but with the retirement of Shane Watson and the release of Harbhajan Singh, they will have some money for the February 11 auction.

As my contract comes to an end with @ChennaiIPL, playing for this team was a great experience..beautiful memories made &some great friends which I will remember fondly for years to come..Thank you @ChennaiIPL, management, staff and fans for a wonderful 2years.. All the best..

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 20, 2021

Harbhajan Singh part of big franchises

Harbhajan Singh started his Indian Premier League career as part of the Kings XI Punjab franchise. However, Harbhajan Singh made an impact when he played for the Mumbai Indians franchise until 2017 and he helped them win three titles in 2013, 2015 and 2017. However, when he played with Chennai Super Kings and helped them win the title in 2018, he joined an elite group of players who had won the Indian Premier League with two or more teams. Yusuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma are the other players who have titles with multiple franchises, with Rohit having helped Deccan Chargers to the IPL 2009 title.

In his two stints with Chennai Super Kings, Harbhajan Singh took 7 and 16 wickets respectively but he missed IPL 2020 due to fears of the coronavirus in the UAE.