IPL 2020: 'See, we cannot look at Raina': Chennai CEO after the team's two straight losses

Chennai kicked off their Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign by getting the better of arch-rivals as well as defending champions Mumbai in the curtain-raiser last Saturday. However, they then tasted back-to-back defeats against Rajasthan and Delhi. With the three-time winners losing two games on the trot, fans have been taking to social media to call for the return of one of their favourites -- Suresh Raina.

Speaking to ANI, Chennai CEO Kasi Viswanathan made it clear that it would be impossible for the franchise to think about him as the senior campaigner made himself unavailable and the team management respects his space.

'See, we cannot look at Raina': Chennai CEO 

"See, we cannot look at Raina because he made himself unavailable and we respect his decision and his space. We are not thinking about it," he said to news agency ANI 

When asked about the heartbreak among the fans, the CEO promised that the team will come back strong and that the fans would have the smiles back on their faces.

"We have been blessed with some of the best fans in the cricketing world and I can assure them that we will bounce back strongly. It is a game and you have your good days and bad days. But the boys know what they need to do and the smiles will be back," he said.

Chennai falter in run-chase

The Chennai batsmen failed to apply themselves as openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay were dismissed before the Powerplay overs. Spinners Amit Mishra and Axar Patel made things difficult for the batsmen and even though Kedar Jadhav and Faf du Plessis added 54 runs for the fourth-wicket stand, they failed to keep up with the required run-rate as it kept on getting steeper and once Faf was dismissed, all Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja could do was delay the inevitable as they looked to reduce their deficit taking the Net-Run-Rate (NRR) into consideration. Jadeja was dismissed on the final ball of the match as the three-time winners were restricted to 131/7 in their 20 overs.

Prithvi Shaw shines as Delhi post 175/3

After being put in to bat by Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan added 94 runs for the opening wicket before Dhawan was trapped plumb in front of the wicket. Shaw and skipper Shreyas Iyer then rebuilt for Delhi. The young opener looked in great touch and at one point, it seemed that he would single-handedly take his team to a formidable total. However, that was not to be as he was outfoxed by veteran leggie Piyush Chawla for a stellar 64 (43). Iyer and Pant then steadied the ship before an absolute screamer from his opposite number MS Dhoni behind the stumps ended his stay in the middle. A couple of crucial boundaries from Marcus Stoinis in the final over helped Delhi post a competitive total of 175/3 in their 20 overs.

READ: 'Come Back Suresh Raina' Echo Fans After Chinna Thala-less Chennai Get Crushed By Delhi

(Image Courtesy: BCCI)

(With ANI Inputs)