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Cricket PlayersIPL Retention: ‘At one time, Chennai and he were hand in hand, no longer’: Chopra shocked that CSK left out IPL star
IPL Retention: Former India opener Aakash Chopra spoke about how the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) decided against retaining a player they were once hand in hand with.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday announced that they have included MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, and Ruturaj Gaikwad to their IPL retention list ahead of the mega IPL 2022 auctions. This meant they have released the likes of Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis and this decision hasn't been welcomed by everyone. This also included Aakash Chopra, who remarked that “Chennai and Suresh Raina” were once hand in hand.
While analyzing the retentions by all eight existing franchises, former India opener Chopra said that “Emotions have become slightly excess baggage” in the IPL.
"Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Chinna Thala (Suresh Raina) are not there. At one time, Chennai and Suresh Raina were hand in hand, no longer. Emotions have become slightly excess baggage when it comes to the IPL.
“CSK had to keep Dhoni with them and they have done that. Along with him are Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad - so they have retained three Indians. The one overseas player is Moeen Ali, we had discussed that these could be the four names,” quipped Chopra.
Raina, also fondly known as ‘Chinna Thala’ and ‘Mr. IPL’, has been a loyal member of the franchise. Moreover, his exploits over the course of the tournament history have been invaluable for the side. In fact, he's currently the fourth-highest run-getter in all of IPL with 5528 runs.
On the other hand, it comes as a shock that South Africa's du Plessis was ignored months after he smashed 633 runs in IPL 2021, second highest, and played a massive role in helping Chennai to their fourth IPL title. There were rumours about CSK being confused between him and Ali but they were put to rest on Tuesday.
