Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Veteran Indian batter Suresh Raina and wicketkeeper batter MS Dhoni have been an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise in the IPL over the years. Even though Raina is no longer a part of CSK in the ongoing IPL 2022, his heart still beats for the Yellow Army. The former CSK vice-captain has been a crucial part of the franchise since the 2008 season and played a key role in helping CSK win four IPL titles. Notably, Raina is CSK's highest run-scorer in history, with a record of 5529 runs in 200 matches at an average of 33.10.
The southpaw recently joined the Star Sports panel for the commentary in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League. Raina appeared on TV as a commentator in a pre-match show. His picture with CSK fans wearing Yellow jersey immediately went viral. The social media platform was flooded with emotional posts, claiming how tough it is to see Raina not in the yellow jersey.
While CSK fans were getting emotional over the reunion of Raina with yellow jersey, Mr. IPL felt the same and confessed that he wishes to play for the side. While speaking on Star Sports, Raina said that he wanted to wear a yellow jersey and somehow enter the stadium to take the guards for the Chennai franchise. However, according to Zee News, Suresh Raina may opt to retire from all types of cricket very soon. According to the report, it appears to be exceptionally impossible that Suresh Raina will drag out his cricketing profession much lengthy as he is now 35 years old.
Over the years, Chennai Super Kings and Suresh Raina have become synonymous with each other. It almost became difficult to imagine one without the other. The same was evident from the fact that while captain MS Dhoni came to be known as the "Thala" by the CSK fans, Raina was regarded as the "Chinna Thala." Raina had also retired from international cricket on the same day as Dhoni back in 2020 but had continued to play in the IPL.