IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra says 'Ek tha Raina' has changed to 'Raina zinda hai'

Aakash Chopra has said Suresh Raina proved his detractors wrong with his enterprising half-century in Chennai Super Kings' opening IPL 2021 encounter against the Delhi Capitals.

Raina had opted out of the Chennai Super Kings squad for the IPL 2020 for personal reasons. Uttar Pradesh's five league stage matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy were the only competitive cricket matches the southpaw had played in the last two years.

While reviewing the CSK-DC match in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that Suresh Raina silenced his critics with a majestic knock.

"Raina is back and it is very important because till a while back everyone was saying 'Ek tha Raina' and now they are saying 'Raina zinda hai'," said Chopra.

The former India opener pointed out that Suresh Raina had expected to get off to a cautious start due to the lack of quality cricket behind him.

"He scored 25 runs off the first 22 balls, gave himself time because he has not come after playing cricket, did not have any game time but after that the way he opened his arms and took the attack to everyone," added Chopra.

Suresh Raina's 54-run knock came off just 36 balls and was studded with three fours and four sixes. He strung together useful partnerships with Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu to help CSK recover after a poor start.

Smashing 6️⃣ to get to the Fifty and glimpses of those Inside Out shots! Thank you Chinna Thala for bringing back the happiness in #Yellove!#WhistlePodu 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/zB4n8MYYUd

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 11, 2021

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Aakash Chopra on Suresh Raina's dominance against the spinners

Suresh Raina struck three of his four sixers against the spinners [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra observed Suresh Raina was particularly aggressive against Ravichandran Ashwin and forced the off-spinner to resort to his variations, but it was all in vain.

"Suresh Raina went after Ravichandran Ashwin and hit him quite a bit. It seemed Ashwin bowled 26 variations in his 24 deliveries but he was taken to the cleaners. He batted very well and if Raina continues batting like this, the things will start looking good for this team," said Chopra.

The 43-year-old concluded by stating that the opposition teams will have to rattle Suresh Raina with quick bowling, else he could make mincemeat of their spinners.

"One thing is clear that spin needs to be careful against him, he will hit hard. If you want to stop him, you need to employ quick fast bowling, otherwise his year can go well," signed off Chopra.

Suresh Raina has gone after the spinners in a huge way today. He's scored 37 runs from 20 balls v spin, compared to 13 from 12 against pace. Classic Raina, who is well and truly back. #IPL2021 #CSKvDC

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 10, 2021

Rishabh Pant certainly seemed to have missed a trick as he continued to feed Suresh Raina the spin bowling of Ashwin and Amit Mishra despite the duo feeling the brunt of his willow. It will be interesting to see how Raina fares against the quicker stuff in upcoming matches, something he has been vulnerable against in the past.