Suresh Raina gets nostalgic on his return to Chennai Super Kings

Indian Premier League (IPL) is not just about cricket. It involves meticulous planning, which every franchise go through, to get their desired set of players. The moment it was announced that the two franchises returning from temporary banishment, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be allowed to retain players from their squad of 2015, the writing was clear and permanent on the wall – MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina will don the same yellow jersey again.

There were a few surprise retentions made by some franchises today (4th January), but that was not the case with the Whistle Podu army. They have got their Thala Dhoni back, alongside his deputies Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja. The 31-year-old batter from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh is very nostalgic on his return to CSK.

He has some amazing memories associated with the franchise, which makes him a local Chennai lad. The Chinna Thala of CSK, Raina had to play for Gujarat Lions in the last couple of years. But CSK is back in action and so is Raina, and just like the fans, he can’t wait for April when the business will actually take place.

Reminiscing the good old days

He has always been a vital cog in the Chennai team. Though most would associate CSK with Dhoni, Raina is an equally valuable member of the franchise, and hence the management was forced to retain a player who is currently out of the national team, by sacrificing a great bowler like Ravichandran Ashwin.

The man who has an average of over 33 in T20s shared his delight on Twitter, where he wrote: “Taking a trip to nostalgia! There is no bigger joy then reuniting with your family & the force of reunion is unstoppable! #Chennai here we come to make the celebration of 378 years even more special!   #IPLRetention #CSK #WhistlePodu @ChennaiIPL @IPL @msdhoni @imjadeja”.

What’s with 378 years?

In case you are wondering whether Raina was out of his minds when he mentioned 378 years, since IPL started only a decade back, don’t get too baffled. Chennai was found 378 years ago, which prompted Raina to use the reference. Another rather quirky link of Chennai’s history can be connected with the jersey numbers of Raina, Dhoni and Jadeja, which are 3, 7 and 8 respectively.