Chennai Super Kings could send Sam Curran to bat at No. 3 in Suresh Raina’s absence: Laxman Sivaramakrishnan

Former India cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels Suresh Raina’s absence from IPL 2020 will hurt Chennai Super Kings in their campaign this season but they can make amends by giving more responsibilities to England all-rounder Sam Curran.

Suresh Raina decided to skip IPL 2020 and return home from UAE due to “personal reasons”. Raina, the league’s second-highest run scorer, has been one of the main reasons behind CSK’s success since the very beginning.

CSK boss N Srinivasan said captain MS Dhoni is not too worried about Raina’s loss but Sivaramakrishnan feels the team would be hurting and suggested that they promote Sam Curran in the batting order.

Sam Curran made his IPL debut last year, playing 9 matches for Kings XI Punjab in which he picked 10 wickets, which included a hat-tricks, and scored 95 runs with a highest score of 55 not out. He was bought for Rs 5.50 crore by CSK in December’s auction last year.

“In T20s, most teams employ leg-spinners to trouble the right-handers. But then, a left-hander could negotiate with leggies easily. So the loss of such an established batsman like Raina would hurt CSK,” Sivaramakrishnan told the Times of India.

“But they have a utility player in Curran and could send the southpaw up the order. He can bat at No. 3 and give CSK those useful runs.

“Over the years, we have also seen Dhoni preferring left-arm pacers. Curran can come in handy since he can swing the ball in the air and is a very enthusiastic fielder,” Siva added.

Chennai Super Kings have been going through a tough time ever since they landed in Dubai earlier this month with three major jolts in their camp.

It was first revealed that 13 members of the franchise tested positive for coronavirus, including fast bowler Deepak Chahar and batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, and just a few hours later Raina decided to pull out of the entire tournament this season and return home.

Speculations surrounding Raina’s departure have been doing the rounds ever since he returned home from Dubai on August 29.

The murder of a close relative coupled with the Covid-19 scare in the camp after 13 members tested positive, was being cited as the reasons behind Raina’s decision to go back. Another rumour doing the rounds is that Raina was also not happy with the hotel room that he was given and wanted one similar to what captain MS Dhoni has got.

The team has been asked to quarantine in their hotel rooms for an additional 7 days as a precautionary measure. All other teams have completed their mandatory 7-day isolation period and started to practice outdoors ahead of IPL 2020, which will be played between September 19 and November 10 in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.