Suresh Raina scored a 36-ball 54 on his comeback for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. He skipped the IPL last season due to personal reasons and was retained by the franchise for IPL 2021. His innings played a big role in taking Chennai to 188/7. In the process, he formed key partnerships with Moeen Ali and Amabti Rayudu. Raina’s comeback knock impressed former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar who praised him for the innings he played.
Speaking to Star Sports in the mid-innings break, Sunil Gavaskar was left in awe of Suresh Raina’s heroics and lauded him for his amazing comeback.
What A Comeback in CSK Colours: Sunil Gavaskar On Suresh Raina
“Very tough, very tough because you know the ideal is such that the fans are very, very demanding. They don’t expect you to fail, they want to succeed in every game. Raina would have felt the pressure when he came back. That’s why he started off slowly. He was pretty much scoring at a run-a-ball and after that he took off. Suresh Raina, well played. What a comeback in CSK colours,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
However, the knock was not enough as Delhi Capitals chased down the total in a canter and won by seven wickets. Shikhar Dhawan (85) and Prithvi Shaw (72) anchored the chase with a 138-run opening stand. Delhi Skipper Rishabh Pant then hit the winning runs as the side made a winning start in IPL 2021. Dhawan won the Man of the Match and a host of other awards on the night.
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Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings after a forgetful IPL 2020, made a losing start in IPL 2021. CSK skipper MS Dhoni lauded the opposition for playing the way they did. Also, he said that the dew played a massive role in deciding the outcome of the game as batting became easier in the second innings. He further said that his bowlers can take a lot of learnings out of this game and come back stronger in the next.
“The batters they did a good job to reach 188, because it was tacky until dew settled in 50 minutes later. We could have bowled slightly better, and if batters are hitting you over the fields, that’s fair enough. The execution of the bowlers was poor and there were boundary balls that they bowled” concluded Dhoni.
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