Did CSK's MS Dhoni Stop Suresh Raina From Captaining A Different IPL Team?

Dhoni and Raina have played 11 seasons together for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. Raina says when Dhoni gets your wicket in the nets, he reminds about it to you all the time.

Source: Twitter

Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Suresh Raina has many MS Dhoni stories. He shared plenty of them in a recent conversation with Jio Cinema. Raina played all his IPL cricket for CSK and Gujarat Lions, a now-defunct team. He scored 5528 runs in 205 matches at an average of 32.52 and strike rate of 136.76. He was called the Mr IPL during his playing days. His partnership with Dhoni had a deep impact on CSK's performance in IPL. If Dhoni was 'Thala' for CSK fans, Raina was the 'Chinna Thala'. In one of the stories Raina mentioned that it was Dhoni who stopped him from playing for other teams in IPL.

Raina shared that he was getting offers for captaincy from other IPL franchises but he stuck with Dhoni because 'Captain Cool' wanted him by his side. Raina said that he never had any captaincy aspirations and that he told the same to 'Mahi bhai'. "I captained UP, Chennai, and several other teams also approached me, but Dhoni bhai would say don’t go elsewhere, I am the captain and you are the vice-captain. I said I don’t have aspirations to be captain, I just want to play and make my country win. If I get the opportunity, I will work hard at it, but I never harboured any such aspirations to be the captain. I always felt I was a team player and was happy to help out teammates or sort their problems," said Raina. 

We might see Suresh Raina donning the yellow jersey again for Texas Super Kings this time __ @ImRaina @ChennaiIPL @TexasSuperKings pic.twitter.com/MuqnChTMCN — John Ferri _ (@JohnFerri_1111) June 15, 2023

Dhoni toughest bowler I faced in Nets: Raina

Raina made another startling statement when he said that Dhoni is the toughest bowler he has faced in the nets. Dhoni is a wicketkeeper and batter but he occasionally bowled for India in dead rubber matches or when things looked very bleak as far as a win was concerned. He never bowled for CSK but Dhoni used to do some practice in the nets and sometimes, even picked wickets. Raina also used to be his victimes in the nets. Dhoni will never miss a chance to remind him about the dismissal in nets, says Raina. 

Speaking about the toughest bowlers he has faced, Raina said, "I think Muralitharan and Malinga, but in the nets, it was MS Dhoni. If he got you out in the nets then you’d not be able to sit with him for one and a half month because he’d keep gesturing and remind how he got you out. He’d bowl off-spin, medium pace, leg spin, everything. In the nets, he would even justify his front foot no-balls (laughs). Wherever he’d get a red cherry in a Test match he’d go for it. In England, he’d swing it full throttle."