Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan expressed disappointment at his one-time teammate Suresh Raina failing to find a buyer at the recent IPL 2022 auction which was held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.
Raina, who was not retained by the Chennai Super Kings ahead of the auction, had set his base price at INR 2 crores. Unfortunately, when his name came up for bidding, contrary to expectations, no franchise showed interest in bidding for him.
The left-handed batter, who retired from international cricket in 2020, has played 205 matches in IPL for Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Lions, even captaining the two sides. He has 5528 runs with one century and 39 fifties at a strike rate of 136.76 and an average of 32.51.
He was part of CSK’s all four IPL wins in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021.
He also played in every IPL season from 2008, barring the IPL 2020, where he returned from Dubai citing concern for his family members amidst the ongoing COVID pandemic.
Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan thinks, Suresh Raina could have been pushed to play and given an opportunity given that he is only 35 years old. In IPL 2021, Raina had his worst ever outing, scoring 160 runs with one fifty at a strike rate of 125.
Taking to his Twitter, Irfan wrote, "Still think Raina could have been pushed. We have seen some foreign players who have played IPL till 40. Raina is 35! One bad season."
