CSK to retain MS Dhoni and R Ashwin, no place for Suresh Raina

In an extraordinary turn of events, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise is likely to release Suresh Raina for the next season of Indian Premier League (IPL). The Governing Council of IPL is expected to finalise the retention policy in the next week after the meeting with the franchise owners. Also, most probably there are chances that they might allow the franchises to retain three players among which two would be Indian players. However, this would be a huge blow for Raina in case CSK opts to part ways with him.

CSK and Rajasthan Royals are all set to return to IPL in 2018 after serving the two-year suspension due to the involvement of the officials in the spot-fixing saga. They will replace Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions who featured in the last couple of seasons. The returning teams would be allowed to pick the players from the pool that consists of players from RPS and GL. It is almost certain that MS Dhoni will be retained by CSK but the fate of the other players will be decided once the policy is declared.

Which overseas player CSK would retain?

According to the reports in a Tamil Daily, Dinathanthi, the team management of CSK has already decided the names of players to be retained. MS Dhoni, R Ashwin and Faf Du Plessis are the players who would be retained by the franchise and release Suresh Raina. He was an integral part of the team since the inaugural season of the lucrative league and has scored more than 400 runs in almost every edition.

Raina was with the team until the eighth season after which the franchise was suspended for two years and he was snapped up by Gujarat Lions. He performed decently for them as well and led them well in both the seasons. Raina has also garnered a huge fan base in Chennai with his stupendous knocks for CSK and it is a surprising decision from the franchise not to retain him. Also, they have decided to go with Du Plessis instead of Dwayne Bravo who is the best T20 bowler currently.