Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan on Monday (14th February) revealed why the franchise didn’t go after Suresh Raina at the recently concluded IPL 2022 mega auction.
The IPL 2022 auction, that took place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13, concluded with 290 players being sold to 10 franchises. Along with happy moments, there was also some sadness as some of the stalwarts of the IPL failed to attract a bid in the event.
Coming to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the MS Dhoni-led franchise got back most of its core players in the IPL 2022 auction. While many familiar faces were back in the side, they failed to buy Faf du Plessis back and didn’t bid for Suresh Raina.
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Suresh Raina, who had kept his base price at INR 2 crores, went unsold in the IPL 2022 auction. The southpaw was part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for 12 long years and the franchise didn’t buy him back. Known as ‘Mr. IPL’, the 35-year old has been a prolific run-getter in the tournament has been one of the main reasons for their success in the league.
With Raina failing to attract any bidders in the auction, many fans and pundits called it an end of the era. They also lashed out at Chennai Super Kings for not buying back the southpaw despite having the balance in their purse.
Speaking in a video posted on CSK’s YouTube channel, CEO Kasi Viswanathan admitted that Suresh Raina has been one of the most consistent performers for them in the last 12 years and it was very difficult for them to not pick him.
He added that the team composition depends on the form and that’s why they thought the southpaw may not fit into the team.
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“Raina has been one of the most consistent performers for CSK for the last 12 years. Of course, it was very difficult for us, no to have Raina but at the same time, you should also understand that the team composition depends on the form and kind of team which any team would like to have so that’s one of the reasons why we thought he may not fit into this team,"
Kasi Viswanathan further said that CSK will miss the services of Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis, who have been with them for the last decade.
“We will miss him, we will miss Faf who has been with us for the last decade, that’s the process and dynamics of the auction," he said.
Notably, Suresh Raina is CSK’s highest run-scorer and is also the fourth-highest run-getter in IPL cricket. The left-hander had amassed 5528 runs at an average of 32.51 and a strike rate of 135 in 205 matches.
