What does the future hold for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina in the Indian Premier League?

The 15th of December 2015. Mark this date on your calendar for it was today that two players parted ways, at least in the Indian Premier League(IPL).

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina- two cricketers, who were lynchpins for the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) for 8 years, were picked by the Pune and Rajkot franchise respectively, earlier today, thereby bringing an end to a wonderful partnership, at least for the next 2 years.

For most of the supporters, this wouldn't have come as a surprise. If one had a look at the marquee Indian players who were in the offering, then Dhoni and Raina were perhaps the most efficient of the lot, at least in the capped players.

For a large part of the 8 years, Raina was Dhoni's most trusted teammate. If he wanted someone to play the long innings at the top, the southpaw was there at 3 and on most days he delivered.

If the pitch was a turner and if he needed a dependable hand at slip, he was there, patrolling the area. When the pressure-cooker overs of a T20 game arrived(Overs 16 to 20), Raina was in the deep, stopping almost everything that came his way.

If required, Dhoni could also go to Raina to get a few overs out of the way in quick time. Batting. Bowling and Fielding. He was the all round package.

For Raina, too, Dhoni assumed significance. He got the best out of him. He was there for support, for guidance and more importantly, he helped revitalize his career as a limited-overs cricketer.

With the southpaw gone to Rajkot, it would be interesting to see, whether he can find a number 2 like Raina and equally intriguing to see if the latter can find as astute a man as the former to help him in Rajkot.

New teams. Newer challenges.

With a new team and newer teammates, things definitely won't be the same again. Both players will have different challenges although there are chances that their roles could still be similar.

Raina will most likely bat at his favoured number 3 position. In Brendon McCullum, he will have a guy who could take the pressure off him a bit at the top, but there is little dispute that the left-hander will be the most critical cog in the batting order of his new team.

Along with holding fort with the willow in hand, there is also a chance of him getting additional responsibility in the form of captaining the side.

During his time at the CSK, he did lead the side in a few games in the 2010 edition of the League, when Dhoni wasn't around and if given the job, it would be intriguing to see how he copes with the dual role.

As for Dhoni, he is expected to lead the side at Pune. But more importantly, he will have the task to build a cohesive unit in order to succeed like he did with CSK. Finding players who would fit the bill, assigning specific roles and getting the best out of his teammates. He will have these and a lot more tasks at hand.

With the talisman indicating that he wants to bat higher up the order for India in the near future, it would be interesting if he adopts a similar policy with the Pune franchise as well and look to bat higher up at the order, something that he didn't do often with CSK.

It would definitely be strange for fans to see these two in different teams, but one can only hope that this change has little bearing on their exploits on the field.