The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) paid a heartfelt tribute to their 'Chinna Thala' Suresh Raina, on Monday after parting ways with the veteran Indian cricketer ahead of the IPL 2022 season.
Raina, who had set his base price at INR 2 crore, went unsold at the IPL mega auction in Bengaluru earlier this month. When his name was called out early on day one, he drew no attention and was not recalled by any of the franchises for the accelerated session of the auction.
Raina is the fourth-highest run-getter in IPL history, with 5528 runs in 205 matches. In his 11 years with Chennai, he scored 4687 runs, making him the franchise's leading run-scorer, ahead of captain MS Dhoni.
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However, no one, including CSK, bid for Suresh Raina in the IPL 2022 auction. Despite Raina's consistent performance for CSK, franchise CEO Kasi Viswanath later explained that when forming a team, the form of the player and team composition come into play.
"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 had said in a video shared by CSK on their YouTube channel.
CSK took to social media and posted a video on Instagram in tribute to Suresh Raina, encapsulating moments from his time with the team since its inception in 2008 and highlighting some of his key accomplishments.
“Inside out since '08! Anbuden Nandri Chinna Thala @sureshraina3! Full in Bio! #SuperkingForever #WhistlePodu,” CSK captioned the video.
