Suresh Raina is like a cushion for MS Dhoni, says former cricketer Pragyan Ojha

Indian Premier League 2021 will commence on April 9 but before that, a lot of speculations about the players and their role in the team have been doing rounds. One of the most anticipated returns is of the Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. People are not only excited to see Dhoni in action by also one of his most reliable cricketers, Suresh Raina. 

Suresh Raina had backed out of the last edition of the IPL citing family issues. This time, when people will finally witness the two in action, a lot of people are concerned if raina will be able to provide the team any support or will just be a burden. 

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Pragyan Ojha addressed the issue on Tuesday. The former Indian spinner and IPL governing council member said that Suresh raina will be a big boost to the spirits of the Chennai Super Kings after their poor match win ratio last time. 

He went onto highlight that amid all the speculation going on regarding the form of the team players, the men in yellow missed the positive presence of Raina and his addition will be a great highlight as the fans missed their ‘Chinna Thala’ last season. 

He spoke to Sports Today as he talked about how Raina has not only been a pillar of strength because of his all-around abilities but also because of his constant support to MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina have played together for a very long time and the observers cannot deny the level of independence Dhoni feels when on ground with Raina next to him. 

Raina has been nicknamed as the Mr IPL because of the number of matches he has played since the start of the IPL. He earlier took part in the Super Kings training camp in Chennai, where Dhoni was also present. He also happened to announce his retirement from international cricket along with Dhoni. 

The announcement came ahead of the IPL 2020 that took place in the UAE. This made the people think that there was some miscommunication between the franchise and Suresh Raina. People also assumed that Ms Dhoni and Raina had a fight. 

“Last year, CSK was missing Suresh Raina. He was the cushion that MSD always had. At any point, Dhoni could fall back on Raina and Raina used to deliver. He has delivered for more than a decade now. He has done so much for CSK,” Ojha said. 

Ojha also talked about the core members that make a team successful adding that Raina is one of the players that make a team strong. He also said, “Somewhere at some point, maybe MSD would have thought that if Raina were there last year, it would have been a different scenario.”