‘It’s certainly not the end of Suresh Raina’ – Michael Vaughan after CSK’s all-time leading run-scorer gets dropped against DC

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan believed that Suresh Raina’s career for three-time champions Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League is far from being over. On Monday, October 4, Raina faced the axe after Robin Uthappa replaced him in the playing eleven for the game against Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Raina, CSK’s all-time highest run-scorer, has had a torrid time in the ongoing IPL edition. After starting his campaign with a half-century against the Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium, the southpaw has strained to get even into double digits. In 12 matches, the left-hander has only managed 160 runs at an average of 17.77 and a strike rate of 125.

Vaughan said that Raina’s numbers warranted the latter’s exclusion from the team. But the veteran was a tad surprised by the fact it was CSK, who dropped Raina as the franchise believes in backing players in their lean patches. As per the retired Brits’ skipper, Raina is most likely to make a comeback.

I’m sure he’ll be used again, says Michael Vaughan

“I’d probably say that in any other franchise, he may have lost his place a few games ago. But in Chennai, they don’t replace players; they keep going, make sure that they stay consistent and give the player enough backing. You can look at Shane Watson’s example a few years ago,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

“I’m a bit surprised, but I guess MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming want to have a look at others since CSK have qualified. It’s certainly not the end of Suresh Raina and I’m sure he’ll be used again. Maybe they wanted to have a look at Robin Uthappa.

“It surprises me as it’s Chennai, who have made the change, but it doesn’t surprise me keeping in mind what Raina has done in the last few games,” he stated.

Apart from Raina, the Super Kings also left out KM Asif and Sam Curran, and brought in Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar.

“No surprise that Bravo replaced Sam Curran. Hazlewood got hit in the previous game, but they stayed consistent with him,” Vaughan added.