CEO Kasi Viswanath reveals why Chennai Super Kings didn’t buy Suresh Raina

Kasi Viswanath, the CEO of the Chennai Super Kings, on Monday revealed the reason behind not acquiring Suresh Raina in the mega-auction. The franchise let go off the Mr IPL, who was unsold, and their long-time opener Faf du Plessis, who joined the Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

Viswanath said that both players will be missed. 

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In a video shared by the Chennai Super Kings on their YouTube channel, Viswanath said that Raine, who was fondly known as ‘Chinna Thala’ (small brother in Tamil), did not fit the team composition. He further admitted that the 35-year-old has been consistently performing for CSK over the years and not having him was very difficult. 

“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,” the CSK CEO said. 

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

Raina had resgistered himself in the mega-auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore. He went unsold for the first time in IPL history. The left-handed batsman, who can also bowl off-spin, was not a part of the  ist of players teams submitted for the final accelerated round on Day 2. The auctions took place on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore. 

South African batsman Faf du Plessis was another player Chennai would miss, Viswanath said.

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“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 added.

Raina has scored 5528 runs in 204 IPL matches. He is the fourth highest run-scorer in the league behind Virat Kohli (6283), Shikhar Dhawan (5784) and Rohit Sharma (5611).