For
almost one and a half decades Suresh Raina was one of the mainstays of the
Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). His consistency with
the willow was exceptional. Raina scored 5528 runs in 205 matches at an average
of 32.51 which made him the fourth-highest scorer in the history of IPL. Barring two seasons (2016 and 2017) for defunct Gujarat Lions, Raina had played
for CSK since 2008. But in the 2022 mega auction, the cricketer found no buyer.
Even CSK did not express any interest in him.

Also Read: IPL Mega Auction 2022: Suresh Raina headlines list of unsold players

In
the 2021 season of the IPL, Raina had been unsuccessful and his natural
attacking style of cricket was missing from his game. In the 2020 season, he
came back home from the UAE citing personal reasons.

Now
as the 35-year-old Raina, who already took retirement from international
cricket, went unsold in the auction, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull
said the southpaw has “lost the loyalty of the team and he lost the loyalty of
MS Dhoni”.

Also Read: IPL 2022 Mega Auction: Full list of unsold players

Speaking
on Raina getting unsold in the auction, former New Zealand cricketer Simon
Doull listed “two to three” reasons that prompted CSK, as well as the
other franchises, to ignore the veteran batter at the auction.

“There
are two to three parts to it. He lost his loyalty in the UAE, we don’t need to
go on (and talk about) why it was. There’s enough speculation about that. He
lost the loyalty of the team and he lost the loyalty of MS Dhoni. Once you do
that, you’re very unlikely to be welcomed back,” Doull said during an
interaction on Cricbuzz.

Also Read: Ranji Trophy returns: Jay Shah says time to let red ball take centre-stage

Raina,
who announced retirement from international cricket on the same day as Dhoni,
won four IPL titles, all for CSK.

CSK,
this season, spent heavily on Deepak Chahar to buy the pacer for Rs 14 crore.
The franchise has also bought back veteran cricketers Dwayne Bravo, Robin
Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu.

Also Read: India vs West Indies, 1st T20I: 3 talking points as Ravi Bishnoi, Rohit Sharma shine

The
four-time winners will be led by MS Dhoni, who was retained along with Ruturaj
Gaikwad, Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja before the auction.