IPL 2021: Suresh Raina Would Have Felt Pressure When He Came Back - Sunil Gavaskar

Former India captain, Sunil Gavaskar lavished rich praises for Suresh Raina after the latter announced his return to the IPL with a sublime half-century on Saturday. Suresh Raina, who pulled out of IPL 2020, played a crucial knock of 54 runs off 36 balls to help Chennai Super Kings post a par total of 188, which was then gunned down by the Capitals with 8 balls to spare.

The left-hander, who was pushed down to number 4 from his regular number 3 slot, came to bat early in the innings when CSK lost both openers for just 7 runs. He started off slowly – by the end of the powerplay, Raina had scored 14 runs off 13 deliveries – which Sunil Gavaskar believes is because of the pressure he was under, but teed off post that.

Ahead of the IPL 2021, the southpaw had played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament for Uttar Pradesh where he fared decently. Now, he has returned to CSK with a bang, and fill the void he left last year.

“Very tough, very tough because you know the ideal is such that the fans are very, very demanding. They don’t expect you to fail, they want to succeed in every game. Raina would have felt the pressure when he came back. That’s why he started off slowly,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He was pretty much scoring at a run-a-ball and after that he took off. Suresh Raina, well played. What a comeback in CSK colours!” he added.

Suresh Raina forced Ravichandran Ashwin to try to bowl differently: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar, 71, lauds Suresh Raina for forcing off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, to change his plans, and bowl differently, by taking him for runs. ‘Chinna Thala’, as Raina is fondly referred to, attacked Delhi’s two experienced spinners, R Ashwin and Amit Mishra, by stepping out of the crease, and going low and smashing them on the leg-side, before eventually getting run-out.

“Yes, I think against a quality spinner like R Ashwin, you can’t stay in the crease. You have to try and go out of the crease and disorient him. And he was a bit disoriented and it showed in the way he was trying to bowl different from what he does generally. And Raina, when he hits it out of the middle, it generally goes into the stands. And that’s what we saw today,” Sunil Gavaskar explained.

MS Dhoni’s side will take on KL Rahul’s rechristened Punjab Kings on Friday at the same venue.

Also Read: Brian Lara Looking Forward To Have A Discussion With Devdutt Padikkal On The Things He Isn’t Impressed About The Latter’s Batting