IPL 2022 | Suresh Raina not getting picked came as a surprise, says Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian cricketer and now commentator Sunil Gavaskar talked about Suresh Raina not getting picked at the IPL mega auction. The former batting great said he was surprised that the fourth-highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) went unsold at the auction on February 12 and February 13, 2021, which took place in Bangalore. 

During a conversation with Sports Tak, Sunil Gavaskar said, "For Raina I was definitely surprised. He is left-handed, does off-spin bowling, and is experienced. In the last season, in the Dubai pitches, where there is a lot of bounce, he did look a little scared and this why I feel people must have felt that even in India we will have fast bowlers and so may be he wasn't picked for that reason. But only the franchises could tell us why they had this feeling about him." 

Suresh Raina who has played 205 matches for his former franchise Chennai Super Kings was not even bid for once by CSK. He failed to attract any buyers during the auction with a base price of Rs 2 crore. Fans have been unhappy with CSK's decision to not retain the left-handed batsman.

Sunil Gavaskar also talked about leg-spinner Amit Mishra and revealed why he was not that surprised about Mishra going unsold.

“May be not so much for Amit Mishra because he hardly got to play any matches last year. And it was clearly evident that his bowling did not have that zip. And also there is fielding. Being a good fielder is mandatory nowadays because you need to save those singles as well. So that might be the reason behind Mishra not being picked by a franchise.”