Suresh Raina: Will maintain ‘sportsman spirit’ while competing against MSD’s team: Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni’s partnership has to be one of the best tales ever in cricket. The duo were one of the rare species to have played in all editions of the IPL for one franchise. They were inseparable in last eight years of the Indian Premier League playing for Chennai Super Kings. But things have changed now as CSK and RR have been banned for two years.
Both the prolific performers in the competition will lock horns when Dhoni’s Pune plays against Raina’s Rajkot.
As a result of the IPL Draft that was staged on December 15, the Dhoni-Raina partnership came to an end as both the franchises opted them as their first choice. When asked about his feelings, the southpaw said that he would be competitive but will maintain the ‘sportsman spirit’ when his team lock horn against his former IPL captain’s team.
Suresh Raina feels that familiarity with Rajkot conditions will be an asset as he played cricket in Rajkot during his junior cricketing days. “I am very much familiar with the condition of Rajkot as I have played many matches in junior category like U-16 and U-19”, Raina said.
Raina is happy to have his India and CSK teammate Ravindra Jadeja in the new franchise as Jadeja being a local guy will be very much handy. “Jadeja is a local boy. Both of us are familiar with conditions here and we will use this to our advantage,” the 29-year-old left handed batsman said.
Along with Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Bravo too have been snapped up by Rajkot. The four guys seemed to know each other quite well having played in one franchise for so many years. Raina echoed the same feelings as New Zealand skipper expressed; Brendon McCullum is glad to be with the core people from CSK heading into the new team.
Suresh Raina is considered to be the most favourite to lead the team. Being the most consistent performer and not having missed a single IPL game, all eyes will be on Raina as how he fares in the new team most likely as captain and a cracker of Dhoni-Raina clash to watch out.