After missing the last year’s IPL in UAE due to personal reasons, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman Suresh Raina feels good to be back with the franchise in the 2021 edition of the league.
CSK opened their IPL 2021 campaign against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday (April 10) and Raina slammed a scintillating half-century to stamp his authority.
The southpaw scored 54 off 36 balls (3 fours and 4 sixes) to propel Chennai to a massive 188/7 in 20 overs.
"Good feeling to come back and score runs for CSK. We had a good start. We had a good partnership and I was just trying to be positive out there. God has been really kind. Been preparing really well. Training is a lot about your mindset and it's about how you execute it," Raina told hosts' broadcasters after the first innings.
While Raina got run-out soon after his fifty, his innings ensured that CSK finish their innings on a high. In the death overs, the pair of Ravindra Jadeja (26* off 17 balls) and Sam Curran (34 off 15 balls) took the DC attack to the cleaners, stitching a 51-run partnership in just 27 deliveries.
"Sam Curran and Jadeja finished it well. It's going to be very, very hard to chase down. You need to keep hanging there at the start. They had Mishy and other bowlers who are really good, so you need to rotate the strike," said Raina.
Invited to bat first, CSK got off to a terrible start as they lost both their openers – Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) and Faf du Plessis (0) – cheaply. Afterwards, Raina and Moeen Ali added 53 runs for the second wicket to bail the team out of trouble.
"Moeen took off really well and he helped me out there too. We have good swing bowlers in Shardul and Deepak and Sam. So we should be able to do it. Special thanks to all the fans," Raina concluded.
Suresh Raina’s knock, however, went in vain as DC overhauled the target with 7 wickets in hand and 8 balls to spare. Openers Shikhar Dhawan (85 off 54 balls) and Prithvi Shaw (72 off 38 balls) starred in the chase for Delhi.
Chennai Super Kings will take on Punjab Kings in their next game on April 16 at the Wankhede Stadium.
(With ANI inputs)
