IPL 2020: 3 Players who can bat at No.3 for CSK after Suresh Raina's departure

Suresh Raina has been one of the greatest players in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is the only batsman to have scored more than 350 runs in seven consecutive seasons. His nickname is “Mr. IPL” for a reason. Raina has been synonymous with CSK and the fans in Chennai often call him “Chinna Thala”.

Raina has been one of their best players without a doubt. He is the first player to play 100 matches for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and has been their most consistent batsman. He has scored 4527 runs from 164 IPL games for the franchise. Raina is also the second-highest scorer in IPL history with 5368 runs, only behind Virat Kohli’s tally of 5412, and has taken the most catches (102) in the tournament’s history. He has made the No.3 spot his own.

However Raina won’t be playing this season due to personal reasons and has already returned home. As CSK’S most consistent batsman won’t be available for them this time around, they will be needing another number 3 batsman to bat for them. CSK might not be able to fill in the massive gap left by Raina, but still need a good number.3 batsman.

In the article, we take a look at 3 players who can bat at 3 for CSK instead of Suresh Raina in IPL 2020:-

1) Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu is tailor-made to bat at 3 for CSK. He is someone who likes to take his time to settle, understand the conditions and then go for the big shots. Rayudu fits perfectly at 3 for CSK as he can hold the innings from one hand and provides stability during a batting collapse.

Rayudu was very successful as an opener for CSK in 2018. He enjoys batting at the top and has done it in the past for the Mumbai Indians as well. He was asked to bat at 3 for MI back in 2014 and did a really good job at that position. Thus batting at 3 won’t be new for him.

Rayudu is an IPL veteran and has an average of 28.7 at a strike rate of 125.95. Despite having a mediocre season in 2019 CSK retained him and backed him. CSK are a team which believe in experience and thus would want an experienced player at 3 and hence would want Rayudu to bat at this position. This would also be a golden opportunity for Rayudu to prove his critics wrong and show them that he still has it in him.