Suresh Raina not finding any takers was one of the major talking points from the recently held IPL mega auction in Bengaluru. Raina, who boasts of an impressive IPL record, has featured in every season of the T20 league barring in 2020 but no team bid for the former India batter including his long-term franchise Chennai Super Kings.
While CSK CEO Kasi Viswanath has said Raina didn’t fit into the team anymore, others feel there’s more to the snub. Former New Zealand fast bowler and popular commentator Simon Doull feels there are three factors behind CSK’s decision including what happened right before the start of IPL 2022.
IPL 2020 was shifted to UAE after being postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus pandemic. Soon teams began assembling in the middle-eastern nation as part of bio-bubble protocols well ahead of the start of the season.
Raina also flew with CSK squad to UAE but in a dramatic turn of events, returned home citing personal reason and took no part in their campaign. Doull reckons this is the moment that may have affected Raina’s relationship with the franchise and captain MS Dhoni.
“There are 2 to 3 parts to it,” Doull told Cricbuzz. He lost his loyalty in the UAE. We don’t need to go into why that was but you know there’s enough speculation about that, so he lost the loyalty.”
Of all the team, he lost the loyalty of MS Dhoni. So once you do that, you are very very unlikely to be welcomed back. He’s not fit and he is scared of the short ball,” he added.
