IPL 2022 Auction: Sunil Gavaskar explains why Suresh Raina went unsold

Indian
batting legend Sunil Gavaskar said that he was surprised to see Suresh Raina go unsold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction over the weekend. However,
he thinks that the southpaw was “scared” in the bouncy pitches of the UAE, and
maybe that was a factor in teams deciding not to buy the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) icon.

Raina, 35, is
the fourth-highest run scorer in IPL history with 5,528 in 205 innings and one of
only six batsmen to score over 5,000 runs, earning the nickname of ‘Mr IPL’ for
his illustrious career in the competition.

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

However,
with a base price of Rs 2 crore, Raina failed to attract any bids at the first
day of the auction on Satuday and was not recalled in the accelerated session
of the auction on Sunday.

“For Raina
I was definitely surprised. He is left-handed, does off-spin bowling, and is
experienced,” Gavaskar said in a conversation with Sports Tak.

Also Read | Suresh Raina analyses difference between current and his generation of Indian teams

“In the
last season, in the Dubai pitches, where there is a lot of bounce, he did look
a little scared and this why I feel people must have felt that even in India we
will have fast bowlers and so maybe he wasn’t picked for that reason. But only
the franchises could tell us why they had this feeling about him.”

Raina headlined
the list of unsold players at this year’s auction, which included the likes of
Steve Smith, Eoin Morgan, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Adil Rashid and others.

Also Read | IPL 2022 Auction: Deepak Chahar most expensive buy for CSK. Check full squad

The IPL
2022 auction saw the ten franchises spend an eye-popping total of Rs 551.7
crores on 204 players, including 67 foreigners. 11 players were sold for more
than Rs 10 crore, the most-ever in an IPL auction.

Ishan
Kishan was the most expensive player this year, with the Mumbai Indians
splurging Rs 15.25 crores to bring back the wicketkeeper-batsman.