Suresh Raina and Amit Mishra were some of the big names who went unsold in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction and it might be the end of an era for them.
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He has more runs than AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, and Gautam Gambhir. During his time with Chennai Super Kings, he earned the nickname ‘Chinna Thala’. In colloquial terms, he was only one step below MS Dhoni as far as his worth was concerned. 5528 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 136 with four titles in 13 years of the IPL. Yet, Suresh Raina does not get picked in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. When he was not picked, there was an outpouring of emotion from social media.
Raina had given it all for the Chennai Super Kings. People slammed Chennai Super Kings for the decision that was taken against him. How could a man who was sometimes ‘Mr IPL’ himself not get a berth in any franchise?
Read – Fans React as Suresh Raina goes unsold in IPL 2022 Mega Auction
Maybe, his base price of Rs 2 crore was too high. Suresh Raina retired with MS Dhoni from all forms of international cricket in August 2020. However, the seeds of his IPL non-selection might have been laid around 2020. Chennai Super Kings were ravaged with the coronavirus. In the midst of all this, Suresh Raina withdrew even before the tournament started. Harbhajan Singh had already withdrawn prior to the team departing for the UAE. The loss of Raina, in particular, hurt the batting, and Chennai Super Kings suffered.
The decision of Suresh Raina to withdraw from the IPL in 2020 did not go down well with the Chennai Super Kings management. Many officials went on record to criticize Suresh Raina. There was even talk that Raina would not feature in the 2021 edition of the tournament. But, with the mega auction in 2022, Chennai Super Kings felt obliged to not release Raina. Thus, he was part of their fourth IPL title.
But, the way how Raina was not picked by Chennai Super Kings in the mega-auction left everyone baffled. Chennai Super Kings had retained most of the core, with the exception of Raina. When Chennai Super Kings did not bid for Raina on both days, the other franchises saw that his high base price was too much. With most of the teams on day 1 having a settled batting outfit, it was not possible for Raina to fit in. Thus, his non-selection meant that for the first time since the IPL and the exception of 2020, Raina will not be part of any franchise.
What wrong did Amit Mishra do? He is just five wickets away from becoming the leading wicket-taker in the history of the IPL. 166 wickets in 154 games with three hat-tricks are not the numbers of a mediocre bowler. If there is one bowler who has constantly excelled in the IPL with various franchises, it has been Amit Mishra. In IPL 2021, Amit Mishra put in a brilliant performance that bamboozled Mumbai Indians in Chennai. The guile and the variation accounted for Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, whose combined value is Rs 32.25 crore.
Perhaps, it may have to do with a lack of cricket. Mishra has not played any form of cricket ever since the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad in IPL 2021. After he was impacted by the coronavirus, Amit Mishra has not played any form of cricket. This, combined with a high base price of Rs 1.5 crore, did not help his case.
Had Amit Mishra lowered the base price, he would have gone to any franchise. Ditto with Suresh Raina. The likes of Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants do not have a quality spin option. Amit Mishra would have filled the void up brilliantly. For Raina, he could have been a perfect fit in the Punjab Kings or Rajasthan Royals line-up that does not have a steady middle-order batsman. At the end of the day, it is a very sad situation regarding these two legends. If they do not play in IPL 2022, then we can all say thank you very much to the contribution of these two great players.
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