IPL 2022: Suresh Raina and Ravi Shastri set to be part of the commentary team

Suresh Raina and Ravi Shastri are set to be part of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as commentators. This will be the first time Raina will not feature in the cash-rich league as he went unsold in the mega auction that took place earlier this year in February. He has also not been named as a replacement by any of the teams despite a couple of players pulling out or getting ruled out due to different reasons.

As for Ravi Shastri, he didn’t continue as team India’s head coach after the T20 World Cup last year. He was reportedly approached by one of the two new teams for a coaching stint ahead of the IPL but it seems that the things didn’t materialise as expected.

Shastri, however, will return as commentator for the first time since he was appointed team India’s head coach back in 2017. Both Suresh Raina and Ravi Shastri will be part of Hindi commentary team for the cash-rich league. Interestingly, this will be a new role for the latter having commentated on the game mostly in English during his post-cricketing career.

“You all know that Raina won’t be a part of the IPL this time but we somehow wanted to link him with the tournament. He has a massive fan following and there is a reason why he is known as Mr IPL. As for Shastri, he was part of Star Sports English commentary team. But he didn’t commentate after the final of Champions Trophy in 2017 as he became India’s head coach,” an IPL source said while speaking to Jagran.

Ravi Shastri taking training for Hindi commentary

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Ravi Shastri is taking Hindi lessons on Zoom from an expert and he has also been doing some commentary rehearsals ahead of the season. Certainly, his return to commentary, albeit in different language, will be refreshing for the fans during IPL 2022.