Chennai Super Kings cricketer Suresh Raina has returned to the IPL sphere with a bang in IPL 2021 after missing IPL 2020 in the UAE owing to personal reasons. The southpaw came at a critical stage losing two wickets for seven runs with the first overs but once he took the guard the Wankhede Stadium belonged completely to him.
Incidentally, Raina had returned to the country despite travelling to the UAE with the entire squad owing to personal reasons. There were rumours that Chennai Super Kings might terminate his contracts but the management stated that they have retained Suresh Raina ahead of the IPL 2021 auctions. And the decision has already started to pay rich dividends from the first game of IPL 2021.
Chennai lost both their openers after Rishabh Pant asked Chennai Super Kings to bat first. In came Suresh Raina in the ground and he looked like he belonged to this place. He started in the fifth gear and played throughout like that. He came down the track, went backfoot and dispatched every Delhi Capitals bowlers especially Ravichandran Ashwin.
Suresh Raina returns with a bang
Suresh Raina played shots all round the park during his 36-ball stay in the middle. The CSK veteran played a valuable knock of 54 runs including three fours and four towering sixes. It was his 39th IPL fifty and fourth against Delhi Capitals and powered Chennai Super Kings to a brilliant stage for the finishers to come and finish the innings on a high. He shared valuable partnership with Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu to power Chennai to a good position.
Meanwhile, social media was on fire ever since Raina entered the pitch and his blistering knock lighted the internet. From Aakash Chopra to Irfan Pathan, former cricketers took to Twitter to praise the former India cricketer.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
This is what we were missing during the last season. #MrIPL @ImRaina
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 10, 2021
Raina will be batting in the same way if he comes at number 3 under pressure situations for #CSK even at the age of 50! #Raina #CSKvDC
— Vimal कुमार (@Vimalwa) April 10, 2021
Super Raina king @ChennaiIPL well played China thala 💪💪
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 10, 2021
Know @ImRaina since hostel days in Lucknow and on thing never changes for him is to perform under pressure. A giant in white ball cricket. #RainaReturns
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 10, 2021
Missed watching @ImRaina bat @ChennaiIPL #CSKvsDC #IPL2021
— Isa Guha (@isaguha) April 10, 2021
From Ek Tha Raina To Raina Zinda Hai…. 👏👏 #IPL2021 #CSK #CSKvDC
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 10, 2021
since he last played for #CSK in that crazy IPL final of 2019, suresh raina has retired from international cricket, missed a whole IPL season and played a mere 5 competitive games…pretty impressive return to the big stage! #CSKvDC #IPL2021
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) April 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/Ashwin_tweetz/status/1380898537018425344?s=20
