Suresh Raina reveals emotional fallout in CSK’s dressing room after 2019 IPL Final heartbreak

Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stalwart Suresh Raina has opened up about the team atmosphere when the franchise lost the Indian Premier League (IPL) finals.

Suresh Raina spent his entire IPL career with the CSK, except for those two seasons when the team was banned from the league.

Raina played for the Gujarat Lions in the 2016 and 2017 seasons and finished his IPL career with the CSK in 2021.

Well, when CSK faced a heartbreaking defeat in the 2019 IPL final, losing to Mumbai Indians (MI) by just one agonizing run, the atmosphere was nothing short of intense.

Suresh Raina opens up on CSK’s painful loss to MI in the 2019 IPL Final

Fans might imagine a storm of anger and frustration behind the scenes at the CSK camp, but the reality is far more different, according to Suresh Raina.

Suresh Raina revealed that the CSK dressing room wasn't filled with scolding, but the pain of coming so close to victory was intense.

Raina also emphasized that it was Rohit Sharma's wonderful captaincy that ensured CSK’s heartbreaking defeat against the MI in the IPL 2019 final.

However, the title defeat wasn’t just a loss; it was a moment of sheer heartbreak. Suresh Raina said that Ravindra Jadeja’s daring shot could have turned the tide, sending the match into a super over, but fate had other plans.

Furthermore, Raina mentioned that the team had battled together, and shared every moment on and off the field, all with the collective goal of claiming the title for two long months, so to see it slip away by such a narrow margin was devastating for every member of the team.

The crushing reality of being on the losing side was not easy at all, according to the former Indian batter.

He added that the first ten days of losing the 2019 final were tough for CSK. It was one of the memorable IPL finals, where MS Dhoni and Shane Watson were run out.

We also need to respect Rohit Sharma's captaincy: Raina

Suresh Rain said on the Uttar Pradesh T20 League Podcast, “I think we also need to respect Rohit Sharma's captaincy. Jaddu played a shot. If he had scored a run, it would have been a super over. That's not true (scolding). I think he wanted to win. Ten days was very tough after losing. You worked so hard for two months as a team. We travel together, live together, and fight for the title, so it's tough to be on the losing side.”

Suresh Raina on 2019 ipl final loss said that you need to respect Rohit Sharma captaincy for defending such a low total pic.twitter.com/ZzwRR9VWJK

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Notably, it was the same final where the former Australian all-rounder Watson batted through the pain, and his knee was bleeding.

However, he was determined to take CSK to the title glory, but Krunal Pandya ran him out to dash their dream. Watson was the top scorer for CSK with 80 runs off 59 balls.

Later, the former skipper Dhoni was run out by the MI wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, and then Jadeja’s failure to play a single big shot ensured the MI bagged the title, winning the final by a mere one run at the packed Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on 12 May 2019.