Ahead of the IPL 2020 opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 19th September in Abu Dhabi, former Australian cricketer Dean Jones said Suresh Raina’s absence would be a major concern for three-time champions CSK this season.
Raina along with the veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has opted out of the upcoming 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in the UAE, citing personal reasons.
Jones further said that Raina being among the top run-getters in the IPL history with an added advantage of being a great player of spin left a big hole at the CSK camp while pointing out the MS Dhoni-led team’s major weakness will be lack of left-handed batters this season.
Jones told Star Sports: “Raina’s absence is a major concern this time and he is in the top 5 run-getters in IPL. He is a left-hander and plays spin very well and the weakness for CSK could be that majority of their players are right-handed.”
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He further said the CSK needs a player who can play spin well and is also a left-hander to replace Raina this IPL 13. Former Aussie continued, “They need some left-handers or they could get stuck and particularly if they are playing to leg-spinners and the ball is going away.”
Jones signed off by saying, “So, whether to go with Sam Curran or Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo or Imran Tahir. Watson and Dhoni haven’t batted for long. Raina and Harbhajan have gone home as well, so it is up to Fleming and Dhoni, how they gel the team together.”
