MUMBAI: Peeved at the manner in which his statement on Suresh Raina was understood and ‘taken out of context’, former BCCI president N Srinivasan has said that Raina’s “contribution to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise is second to none and it is unfortunate that people are trying to put two and two together to drive a wedge”.
Speaking to TOI on Monday, Srinivasan said “his (Raina’s) contribution to the CSK franchise has been phenomenal through the years”.
Srinivasan is also of the firm view that “it is important to understand what Suresh is going through right now and give him space”.

Ever since he was picked by CSK ahead of the inaugural IPL in 2008, Raina has been the quintessential “Chennai boy”, earning the nickname “Chinna Thala” (second in command) to skipper MS Dhoni or “Thala” (leader).
At 5,368 runs from 189 innings, a century and 38 half-centuries, and a strike rate of 137.14, Raina happens to be the second-highest run-getter in IPL all time over the 12 seasons of the tournament so far. Raina, in fact, also happens to be the most capped player in IPL with 193 matches, three ahead of Dhoni, and all for the same franchise, the Chennai Super Kings.

The CSK boss says such contributions are priceless. “The franchise will always stand by him and he has our complete support during these times of distress.” Srinivasan further told TOI.
Raina began to feel claustrophobic inside the hotel room of the Taj in Dubai after the team members had isolated themselves post their arrival in UAE and the all-rounder panicked for lack of enough space to move around.

“These boys, they’re family. They’ve been family for over a decade now. When I said ‘cricketers are like prima donnas’, it wasn’t in a negative sense. A prima donna is the lead singer in an opera. Similarly, cricketers are always at the forefront of an exercise like this,” Srinivasan clarified, once again underlining that it was unfortunate that he had been quoted out of context.
The former BCCI chief says the IPL is India’s pride and the country’s biggest brand export to the world. “We take such a lot of pride in saying ‘IPL is among the world’s biggest sporting properties’ and rightly so, because what it has achieved in just 13 years is phenomenal.”

“We need to preserve it in all its glory and work towards making it bigger and better,” Srinivasan told TOI.
Srinivasan also sees the shifting of IPL to UAE, in the middle of the pandemic, as a gigantic exercise, one that is bound to become a model of sorts for other sports properties across the world to follow.
“The league was moved out of the country twice in the past, but this time the circumstances are different. On that count, Indian cricket is setting a global benchmark for world sport. A successful IPL in UAE should and will become the new global benchmark for sports in the post-Covid era. It is something to be proud of,” he said.
In that context, Srinivasan believes “everybody should come together and work towards a successful IPL”. That, he adds, can only happen when all stakeholders share the same vision.
“I can see that happening already and it’s a great feeling to see the 13th edition taking shape,” he added.