Suresh Raina will not participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time since the tournament started in 2008. Raina, who was released by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the IPL auction, stayed in the two-day event in Bengaluru last week. Raina has been part of CSK since the tournament’s inaugural edition, with the exception of two seasons (2016 and 2017) when the franchise was banned from participating in the cash-rich league. He had managed the now-defunct Gujarat Lions for two seasons.
After skipping the 2020 edition for personal reasons, Suresh Raina endured a difficult outing in IPL 2021 and missed the final stages of the tournament due to a knee injury.
Speaking of Raina going unsold at auction, former New Zealand cricketer Simon doul cited “two to three” reasons that prompted CSK, as well as the other franchises, to ignore the veteran batter at the auction.
“There are two to three parts. He lost his loyalty in the UAE, we don’t need to go further (and talk about) why it was. There is enough speculation about it. He lost the loyalty of the team and he lost the loyalty from MS Dhoni. Once you do, it’s very unlikely you’ll be welcomed back,” doul said during an interaction on Cricbuzz.
Raina, who announced his international retirement on the same day as Dhoni, is the fourth goer of all time in the IPL, with 5,528 runs in 205 games.
Raina also won four IPL titles, all with CSK, including last season.
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CSK, on the other hand, has built another strong team by managing to retain some of their proven performers such as Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu.
The four-time winners are led by MS Dhoni, who was retained before the auction along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja.
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