Why Suresh Raina didn’t leave CSK and rejected other teams offers?

Former India’s left-handed batter and CSK star Suresh Raina revealed in a talk show on JioCinema the reason behind his being part of the Chennai Super Kings for such long years as the veteran played for the IPL franchise from 2008 until 2021. He played some magnificent innings for his team in the IPL years after years. Not just in the IPL, he had a great run in the Indian team as a middle order batsman and was part of the World Cup 2011 winning side. He lifted IPL trophies several times in his career under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, though for 2016-17 he captained Gujarat Lions (now defunct) after CSK got banned from the IPL tournament. After the lifting of the ban, he again played for CSK.

Suresh Raina, while revealing the reason behind his loyalty towards CSK, said that it was because of MS Dhoni that he never left the team, as the former Indian Captain requested him to stay with the franchise by being his deputy, and Suresh Raina didn’t deny the role. Though he got lucrative offers from other franchises as well, where he was also getting captaincy, he refused to associate himself with any other franchise and stayed with CSK for such a long time, which he enjoyed a lot. He never had aspirations to be a captain and wanted to play as a team player. Speaking to Akash Chopra on JioCinema’s show “Home of Heroes”, he said

“I Captained UP, Chennai, and several other teams offered me the role of captain but Dhoni bhai said that don’t go elsewhere stay here I am the captain and you are the vice-captain, to which I said I don’t have aspirations to be a captain if I get the opportunity I will work hard but I never had aspirations to be a captain, I always felt I was a team player and was happy to help my teammates.”

Suresh Raina said