File photo of CSK stars Suresh Raina (left) and MS Dhoni.
Chennai Super Kings have been left in a spot of bother after two of their key players Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh opted out of the Indian Premier League 2020 over personal reasons.
While Raina has been the middle-order mainstay of the Chennai franchise since its inception and has been a capable deputy to MS Dhoni, veteran Harbhajan Singh’s vast experience always made him an automatic choice in the XI.
Raina especially has been integral to the side, playing 164 games to amass 4527 runs including one century and 32 half tons. The part-time spinner also picked 24 wickets for the side.
This apparently made former Indian pacer RP Singh wonder how MS Dhoni will find a replacement for his deputy, who announced retirement from international cricket on the same day as Dhoni, as they gear up to face Mumbai Indians in the season opener. RP also recalled on Twitter how Suresh Raina smashed 25-ball 87 runs inside powerplay against Kings XI Punjab during the 2014 IPL qualifier 2.
So far, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis were touted as his replacement at no. 3. However, Gaikwad is unavailable for selection as he is yet to clear fitness test after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier. The three-times champion will start their IPL 2020 campaign against defending champions MI tonight from 7:30 pm IST.
