Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis will be missed by CSK: CEO Kasi

Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanath disclosed on Monday that CSK did not sign veteran player Suresh Raina during the IPL 2022 super auction because he might not fit in with the existing team’s balance. Raina has regularly performed well for CSK throughout the years, and his absence has been “extremely tough.”

Notably, for the first time in the tournament’s history, former India batsman Suresh Raina, who had a base price of Rs 2 crore, went unsold in an IPL auction. The former Chennai Super Kings batter will miss an IPL season for only the second time in the tournament’s history, after his absence from IPL 2022 in the UAE due to personal circumstances.

Notably, when he was put up for auction on Day 1 of the mega auction, he went unsold. The Chennai Super Kings, often known as ‘Chinna Thala,’ did not make an offer for him. Raina was not among the players whose names were submitted by clubs for the final expedited round on Day 2 of the bidding process in Bengaluru on Sunday.

“For the past 12 years, Raina has been one of CSK’s most consistent performers. Of course, it was difficult for us not to have Raina, but you should also understand that team composition is dependent on the form and type of team that any team would like to have, which is one of the reasons why we thought he might not fit into this team “Kasi stated this in a video posted to the Chennai Super Kings’ YouTube channel on Monday.

Kasi Viswanath also said Chennai Super Kings will miss Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis, who were acquired in the auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore. “We will miss him, we will lose Faf who has been with us for the last decade,” he continued, explaining the process and dynamics of the auction.

Suresh Raina is one of the IPL’s all-time greats. In the history of the IPL, the left-handed batter has scored 5528 runs in 204 matches. He is the fourth-highest run-scorer in the IPL, after only Virat Kohli (6283), Shikhar Dhawan (5784), and Rohit Sharma (5611).