Suresh Raina, a True Servant of CSK, says Anis Sajan

Suresh Raina

When you talk of the CSK franchise, two players immediately come to mind. One is their Talismanic Captain MS Dhoni, and the other is Lieutenant Suresh Raina.

Suresh Raina has been associated with team CSK since the inception of IPL in 2008. He played till 2015 till CSK was suspended and then resumed his loyalty from 2018 till date.

Raina has been consistent with the bat in IPL, scoring so far 5495 runs and is the third-highest scorer in the history of IPL. He has played 201 matches and has an average of scoring 450 runs per season which is massive and commendable as the number one league in the world has evolved drastically since its beginning in 2008. CSK won its first title in 2010, and Suresh Raina was instrumental in the franchise's first title victory by scoring 520 runs. He also scored 438 in the following year, in 2011, when CSK won back-to-back titles. In 2018, When CSK returned to IPL, it was called Dads Army, and no one gave them a chance, but Ambati Raydu, Shane Watson, MS Dhoni, Suresh was the fourth-highest scorer scoring 445 crucial runs and was instrumental in winning their third title. His innings of 87 runs of just 25 balls against Kings X1 Punjab is still rated as his best knock and could have got the fastest hundred had he not been run out. He is also very handy with the ball for MS Dhoni and bowls useful overs whenever his captain has demanded and picked up 25 wickets in the history of IPL. He is also a live wire in the field and is among the top three even at 34.

A Lieutenant is a deputy or substitutes acting for a Superior, and Suresh Raina has filled that role for MS Dhoni with his heart and soul. Indeed, a true Servant of CSK Franchise