On current form, Raina did not fit into team: CSK CEO

PTI, Feb 15, 2022, 4:37 PM IST

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Chennai Super Kings did not bid for their longtime servant Suresh Raina at the IPL auction because of his ”current form”, said CEO Kasi Viswanathan on Tuesday. While the social media was abuzz about Raina being ignored and it probably meant an end to the IPL legend’s run in the league, CSK CEO K S Viswanathan said team combination and form meant the left-handed UP batter could not fit into the team.

”Missing out on Raina…He has been a great asset for the side earlier. Considering the current form, he did not fit into the side,” Kasi told PTI.

Raina, an IPL superstar in his own right, having scored a 5,528 runs from 205 matches with 1 century and 39 fifties, went unsold in the auction. He had pegged himself at a base price of Rs two crore in the auction.

CSK veteran Faf du Plessis, a key member of the victorious teams in 2018 and 2021, was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore as was Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, star of the triumph last year.

”We will miss Faf who has been with us for a decade. But, that is the dynamics of the auction,” he added.

The Super Kings, however, managed to buy back veterans Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Santner and pacer Deepak Chahar at the auction.

Speaking about losing some of the Super Kings stars, Viswanathan said, ”in auction economics, it is very difficult to retain everybody. We were aware of it…we will lose somebody. We will also get somebody in their place. Now, we have to get the best out of what we have.” He said CSK went into the auction with a plan, adding they have got whatever they wanted.

”We went with a plan and think what we got whatever we wanted. We are quite happy with the team composition and balance of the side,” Kasi added.

About getting Deepk Chahar, the CSK CEO said he has been performing very well and the team had earmarked him as one of the main buys.

”We know that Deepak Chahar is a match-winner. He has been performing very well for us, that is why we had earmarked Deepak as one of our main buys and we got him. We knew we had to pay high for that and we got him…,” Viswanathan added.

CSK bagged Chahar for Rs 14 crore after an intense bidding war, making him the most expensive fast bowler in the auction.

Ahead of the auctions, CSK had retained talismanic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and English player Moeen Ali.