Watch: Suresh Raina welcomes Robin Uthappa to CSK in hilarious fashion
The Chennai Super Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their IPL history in the United Arab Emirates last year. Big names like Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh did not turn up for the franchise because of personal reasons. Even Dwayne Bravo could not play all matches.
Ahead of the IPL 2021 Auction, the Chennai Super Kings have retained Suresh Raina. To bolster their batting lineup, they traded in former IPL Orange Cap winner Robin Uthappa from the Rajasthan Royals. Uthappa will likely play the back-up opener’s role at CSK because Ruturaj Gaikwad had an excellent 2020 season.
Uthappa is one of the most experienced Indian batsmen at the moment. He was the first batsman to score a half-century for India in T20 international cricket. Like MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, Uthappa was one of the top T20 players in the world during his prime.
It goes without saying that Suresh, Robin, and Dhoni would be great friends off the field. Raina showed how close they are when he decided to share a video from an old IPL match to welcome Robin Uthappa to the Chennai Super Kings.
A fan had uploaded a video from the reverse fixture between the Pune Warriors and the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2013. In that match, Suresh Raina ran out Robin Uthappa with a fantastic piece of fielding. After spotting this video on Instagram, Suresh shared it on his Instagram story, with the following caption.
Raina welcomes uthappa to CSK 😂💛#CSK | #IPL2021 | #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/eYj7rJE5mz
— MSDian™ (@ItzThanesh) January 30, 2021
IPL 2021 Auction will happen in February, with Chennai being the venue. The Chennai Super Kings will aim to add a few more match-winners to their side for the 2021 season. It will be interesting to see if the Super Kings could maintain their streak of qualifying for playoffs in IPL seasons that have happened in India.
Here is the video of that run out: