Former Indian cricketer, Virender Sehwag believes MS Dhoni would keep Suresh Raina in the 11 notwithstanding the latter’s dismal performance with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2021. Raina owns 157 runs at an avg of 19.62 and a strike rate of 127.64 in 10 games.
Raina scored a 36-ball 54 in CSK’s first match versus Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, but his team lost by 7 wickets. Since then, the left-hander has only managed to pick up 101 runs at a 14.43 batting average. According to Sehwag, Raina seems to need time in the middle to regain his flow.
CSK knows that they bat deep and even Shardul Thakur can do well: Sehwag
Sehwag also feels that, due to their offensive strength, the Super Kings don’t have much to concern about. Raina’s poor form would not bother them too much because Shardul Thakur can also make runs.
“Dhoni knows that Raina hasn’t been performing, but he won’t be thinking of dropping the left-hander and roping in someone else. But if Raina plays around 20-30 balls and scores 10-20 runs, he will get some confidence. CSK knows that they bat deep and even Shardul Thakur can do well. So, the Super Kings won’t be worrying a lot,“ told Sehwag in an Interaction.
“Earlier, we talked about Raina coming ahead of Dhoni in the batting lineup. Dhoni didn’t bat higher and sent Raina, who got out after playing a poor shot. I don’t think it’s a concern, but Dhoni would want Raina to get some runs before the playoffs,“ he stated.
According to Sehwag, Raina batting in the playoffs cannot be ruled out, because of his expertise in the shorter format.
Recently, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming urged Raina to perform well as the IPL 2021 season nears its conclusion. The Super Kings will face the Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
