IPL 2020 News: Chennai Super Kings suffered two massive blows before the start of the IPL, in the form of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. Both of them decided to pull out of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) citing personal reasons. This came as a massive loss for the Whistlepodu Army.
CSK has still not named any replacement for both the players. They will play against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in the inaugural match of the IPL 2020 season, on September 19 in Abu Dhabi. Shane Watson has recently opened up about Suresh Raina’s absence from the team. He feels that it will be incredibly tough to replace a batsman of Raina’s calibre.
However, Watson feels that his team has enough squad depth to deal with the loss of Raina. Suresh Raina has been an integral member of the CSK playing XI since the start of the IPL in 2008. Raina is also CSK’s highest run-getter in the IPL. (IPL 2020 News)
Shane Watson feels that the team will heavily miss Suresh Raina. (IPL 2020 News)
“We have to (deal with the absence of Raina, Harbhajan). The great thing with CSK, as with all IPL squads, they have a lot of depth. It’s going to be incredibly hard to replace Suresh Raina. You can’t. He scored the second-most runs in the IPL, played the most games in IPL history. He has got records left, right and centre,” said Watson on a YouTube show hosted by Quetta Gladiators’ head of player acquisitions, Nabeel Hashmi.
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“He is going to be hugely missed, knowing the conditions in the UAE is hot, more chances of wickets being drier and turning a bit more. Raina plays spin incredibly well as well,” he added.
Watson has been featuring in the yellow jersey for the past two seasons. He feels that Raina’s absence will open the door for somebody like Murali Vijay in the team. Vijay has played only three games for CSK in the past two seasons and has managed to score just 76 runs in them. Raina’s absence might serve as an open opportunity for Vijay, who was once the integral part of the CSK playing XI. (IPL 2020 News)
Watson picked Piyush Chawla to take responsibility in his shoulders in Harbhajan’s absence. CSK bought Chawla for a mammoth 6.75 crores INR in the IPL 2020 auction last year.
“Harbhajan, of course, has done incredibly well for CSK in the last couple of years. But again, on the other side, there is going to be opportunities for someone like Piyush Chawla who has come over from the Knight Riders. Of course, their experience and quality is going to be missed but you have got to make the most of the situation,” Watson further said. (IPL 2020 News)
