Chennai Super Kings (CSK) may release one of the core members, Suresh Raina, ahead of the IPL 2021 auction. Raina, who had not participated in the IPL 2020 because of personal reasons, is currently playing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for Uttar Pradesh.

As per a report published in Inside Sport, CSK are not very keen to retain Raina who's worth 11 crores. He is the second highest-paid CSK cricketer after captain MS Dhoni, who gets 15 crores. 

Raina was CSK's vice-captain and a permanent No. 3 batsman for a long time. But the relation between him and the franchise hasn't improved after the last year.

“CSK has to take a big call on Raina. No doubt he has contributed a lot to CSK’s success in past. As the team is revamping itself to pay or block 11Cr from 85 Cr total pay-purse is something which may pinch the yellow army. That is the reason they are deliberating hard on the same”, the source said.

ALSO READ: SMA Trophy 2021: WATCH - Suresh Raina pulls off MS Dhoni-like 'no look' run-out

Super Kings' purse balance is only INR 15 lakh currently, the lowest among all franchises. We may expect some high priced players being released ahead of the auction. 

Last season, the franchise suffered in the tournament because of key players not coming good at the right time. They finished second last on the points table. 

Chennai Super Kings current squad: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, M Vijay, Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Josh Hazlewood, Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Monu Kumar, Shane Watson, Sai Kishore

(With Inside Sports Inputs)