Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan ruled out Suresh Raina’s return to the team for the 2020 IPL, saying the franchise respects his space and decision. Raina returned to India from the United Arab Emirates for “personal reasons”, but later hinted that she might even return to the team.
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CSK have struggled at IPL 2020 so far, winning just one of their three games. Hitting in particular has been poor as none other than Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis look fit. CSK’s docile capitulation to Delhi Capitals on Friday sparked a trend on Twitter calling for the return of Suresh Raina, but that seems unlikely to happen.
“We cannot look at Raina because she was unavailable, and we respect her decision and her space. We are not thinking about that,” Viswanathan told ANI.
“I can assure the fans that we will bounce back strong. It’s a game and you have your good days and bad days. But the guys know what to do and the smiles will return.”
After the game against DC, which CSK lost by 47 runs chasing 176, Dhoni admitted a lack of “steam” in hitting.
“We’re lacking a little steam in the hitting and that hurts. The execution rate keeps increasing after such slow starts and it adds pressure, we have to figure that out. We need to come back with a clearer picture, looking at the combination. the ones we can think of. We’re an extra hitter to start with, so players need to step up, “Dhoni said.
Coach Stephen Fleming also admitted that hitting was “confusing” in the absence of key players like Raina and Rayudu, who missed the last two games due to injury.
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“We are a bit confused at the moment, we are missing some key players and we are trying to find a balance that allows us to be competitive,” he said. “It’s about the spinning bowling aspect again, we’re looking to develop a personality in the kind of pitches we’re getting. We’re trying to find a combination without Raina and Rayudu. The performance against Delhi was on the weaker side in terms of intention. It’s been an interesting six days and now we have time to rectify the problems and there are some of them. “
As Dhoni did in the post-match presentation, Viswanathan also confirmed that Rayudu will return for CSK’s next game, against SRH on October 2.
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