Insight Bureau: In a surprising turn of events, Suresh Raina, who was once called Mr IPL and was in the Rs crore bracket, went unsold across the two days of the auction with no franchise showing interest. Despite of winning matches for CSK season after season, he did not find any buyer this year.
Earlier, Suresh Raina kept a base price of Rs. 2 crore for himself. The left-handed batsman was part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the previous season. Like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina had also been an integral part of CSK over the years. Raina joined CSK in the debut edition in IPL 2008 and was part of the franchise till the 2021 season. However, when CSK was banned in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Raina led now defunct Gujarat Lions for the two seasons.
Raina is one of the leading run-scorers in Indian Premier League. The left-handed batsman has scored 5528 runs in 205 IPL games and is the 4th leading run-getter in the tournament currently. The 35-yar-old has also shattered 1 century and 39 fifties in the tournament.
Suresh Raina hogged the limelight in his debut season itself when he slammed 421 runs in IPL 2008. He returned with another good sho in the next season, smashing 434 runs. Till the 2014 season, Raina always crossed the 400-run mark while representing CSK.
When Chennai Super Kings returned to the IPL after a two-year ban in 2016 and 2017, the team picked Suresh Raina back in the squad. Raina opted out of the 2020 season due to personal reasons. He returned in IPL 2021, however, managed an average performance with 160 runs in 12 games. Ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction, CSK released Raina from the squad.
Notably, Raina announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2020 alongside MS Dhoni. Later that year, he opted out of IPL in UAE to citing personal reason and having linked up with the squad before returning home.