MS Dhoni knows Suresh Raina is out of form, but won’t drop him: Virender Sehwag

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag reckoned that MS Dhoni won’t drop Suresh Raina from the eleven despite the latter’s poor show for the Chennai Super Kings in the 2021 Indian Premier League. In 10 matches, Raina has scored 157 runs at an average of 19.62 and a strike rate of 127.64.

In CSK’s opening match against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Raina notched a 36-ball 54, though his team lost by seven wickets. Since then, the left-hander has scored a mere 101 runs at an average of 14.43. Sehwag said that Raina needs time in the middle to get back his rhythm.

Sehwag also mentioned the Super Kings don’t have a lot to worry about because of their batting depth. The Nawab of Najafgarh quipped that with Shardul Thakur also having the ability to score runs, Raina’s bad form won’t be concerning them a whole lot.

Virender Sehwag shares his opinion

“Dhoni knows that Raina hasn’t been performing, but he won’t be thinking of dropping the left-hander and roping in someone else. But if Raina plays around 20-30 balls and scores 10-20 runs, he will get some confidence. CSK know that they bat deep and even Shardul Thakur can do well. So, the Super Kings won’t be worrying a lot,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“Earlier, we talked about Raina coming ahead of Dhoni in the batting lineup. Dhoni didn’t bat higher and sent Raina, who got out after playing a poor shot. I don’t think it’s a concern, but Dhoni would want Raina to get some runs before the playoffs,” he stated.

Sehwag said that with the amount of experience he has in the shorter format, chances of Raina scoring in the playoffs can’t completely be ruled out.

“At times, batters don’t get runs despite trying hard, but Raina has to keep trying. However, he is a kind of player, who can score runs in the playoffs as he has so much of experience and T20 is his preferred format,” Sehwag added.

Earlier, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming also backed Raina to come good as the IPL 2021 goes into its business end. The Super Kings are next set to face Rajasthan Royals on Saturday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.