Suresh Raina, who has come to be known as ‘Mr. IPL’ over the years, wasn’t picked by Chennai Super Kings or any of the other 9 teams at the IPL 2022 mega auction last month. This will be the first time that Raina won’t be participating in the mega-tournament.
Before going into the mega-auctions, Raina had set INR 2 crore as his base price for the auction and no teams showed interest in acquiring his services. His ouster from the league has become one of the most discussed topics on social media.
Recently, Rajasthan Royals revealed their jersey, and during the event, RR director of cricket operations Kumar Sangakkara reviewed the recently conducted IPL 2022 mega-auctions and pointed out how the IPL franchises have now started favoring more value and utility over big-name players.
Explaining the same, Sangakkara gave an example of former CSK batter Suresh Raina who failed to attract any bids in IPL 2022. Talking about the same, he said:
“There are different ways to look at it. As the years go by, players change and reputations are also made new by younger players,”
He added: “In the case of Suresh Raina, his reputation is unbelievable in IPL cricket. He has been an absolute legend, one of the best and top-most performers season after season. When you go into granular detail, perhaps the player is not suited for that season. It takes nothing away from the player being one of the best ever, or the player being of absolute high quality and it is something that analysts, coaches and owners look for.”
Meanwhile, if reports are to be believed then Suresh Raina will be still participating in the 15th edition of the tournament, but not as a player. He will be seen in a different avatar as he will be joining IPL 2022 as a commentator.
