Reports: Chennai Super Kings might not retain Suresh Raina for IPL 2021

There was a lot of talk around Suresh Raina during the 2020 edition of the IPL. And, it had nothing to do with his performances with the willow. In fact, Raina missed an entire IPL edition for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2008 and did not turn out for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side in the 13th IPL edition.

There were a lot of rumours regarding Raina’s withdrawal from the tournament. While some stated that he was unhappy with the hotel room that he got, Raina himself clarified and revealed that he had to leave because of some personal issues, where his uncle was reportedly killed.

Without the experienced left-hander, the Chennai outfit enduring their worst campaign ever. The MS Dhoni-led side failed to qualify for the playoffs and could manage to win just six games out of the 14 that they played.

Now, a source reveals that Raina might not be an automatic choice in the CSK squad this year. The source adds that CSK would revamp itself, and Raina’s fee of 11 Crores might be an issue and there are a lot of deliberations going on regarding the matter.

“CSK has to take a big call on Raina. No doubt he has contributed a lot to CSK’s success in past. As the team is revamping itself to pay or block 11Cr from 85 Cr total pay-purse is something which may pinch the yellow army. That is the reason they are deliberating hard on the same,” said the source as quoted by Times Now.

Suresh Raina is the highest run-scorer for CSK

Raina is the highest run-scorer for the ‘yellow brigade’ and is the only cricketer from the Chennai franchise to have scored over 5000 runs in IPL cricket. Raina is a bona fide IPL legend and has amassed 5368 runs in the IPL, at an average of 33.34 and a strike rate of 137.14. The left-hander has also scored a hundred and 38 fifties in IPL cricket.

Raina recently announced his retirement from international cricket on 15th August 2020, along with CSK skipper MS Dhoni. In the international arena, Raina represented the ‘Men in Blue’ in 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is. While he scored 5615 runs in the ODI format, Raina scored 1604 runs in T20Is.

With the 2021 IPL auctions just around the corner, it remains to be seen if Raina will turn out for CSK, or wear a new IPL jersey, or worse, might not find any takers if CSK releases him.