New Delhi: Ever since the Indian Premier League (IPL) started in 2008, this is for the very first time that Suresh Raina will not be playing in the tournament. Mr. IPL, who was a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), went unsold during the IPL 2022 auction.
Suresh Raina, who pulled out of the IPL 2020 citing personal reasons, made a comeback in the 2021 season but was not able to perform. It was a tough outing for the left-hander.
In a conversation with the Cricbuzz, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull said that Raina lost loyalty of MS Dhoni and that became the reason for his ouster from the CSK camp. “There are two to three parts to it. He lost his loyalty in the UAE, we don’t need to go on (and talk about) why it was. There’s enough speculation about that. He lost the loyalty of the team and he lost the loyalty of MS Dhoni. Once you do that, you’re very unlikely to be welcomed back”.
Raina also announced his international retirement on the same day as Dhoni did. He is the fourth-highest run-getter in the IPL as he made 5,528 runs in 205 matches.
However, CSK have made a strong lineup by holding on to some of their proven performers in the form of Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu.
MS Dhoni will be leading the four-time champions. Dhoni was retained along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, and Ravindra Jadeja by the CSK management.
