CSK bid an emotional farewell to Suresh Raina after parting ways with him ahead of IPL 2022

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have recently bid an emotional farewell to their long-standing batter, Suresh Raina. The southpaw has been an integral part of the franchise ever since the inception of the IPL in 2008.

Raina led the Gujarat Lions franchise in the 2016 and 2017 seasons when CSK were serving a ban. Apart from those two seasons, Suresh Raina has always turned up for the yellow franchise.

However, fitness issues have surrounded the flamboyant left-hander in the last few years, resulting in a significant dip in his batting returns. In the recently concluded mega auction, Raina went unsold as a result.

Paying tribute to their beloved 'Chinna Thala', the Chennai franchise posted the following video on their official Instagram handle. They captioned it:

Inside out since '08! Anbuden Nandri Chinna Thala @sureshraina3! 🦁 #SuperkingForever #WhistlePodu 🦁💛

You can watch the whole video below:

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"Suresh Raina lost MS Dhoni's loyalty in the UAE" - Simon Doull on CSK not bidding for Raina at the mega auction

Former Kiwis pacer Simon Doull opined that Raina losing MS Dhoni's loyalty during IPL 2020 was the reason behind CSK not picking him up during the mega auction.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Simon Doull analyzed the reasons behind CSK snubbing Raina and said:

"Raina lost MS Dhoni's loyalty in the UAE(IPL 2020). We don't need to go on and talk about why it was and all that. There's enough speculation about that. He lost the loyalty of the team and he lost the loyalty of MS Dhoni. Once you do that, you're very unlikely to be welcomed back into the team.

As the protagonist of CSK's batting line-up over the last decade, Suresh Raina has amassed 4687 runs for the side across 176 games at an average of 32.32, including one hundred and 33 fifties.