ASHWIN AND RAINA DISCUSSED WHY CSK STANDS OUT FROM THE OTHER TEAMS IN IPL AND MSD’S BELIEF; DETAILS HERE!

In the absence of cricketing tournaments, cricketers have been actively engaging with their fans on various social media platforms, as a way of entertaining themselves. Followed by Kohli and AB de Villiers, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin connected over an Instagram live session. While both of them play for Chennai Super Kings, they discussed why CSK stands out from the other teams who compete at the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Chennai Super Kings is considered to be the most successful franchise and the team as they have won thrice and have entered the qualifying playoffs in every season that they have participated in. Ashwin mentioned how the presence of MSD has always eased on the pressure that the entire team feels. “At CSK most of the pressure is taken away by the presence of Mahi bhai and because of the victories that we had... the oneness of the team," Ashwin said.

Raina on the other end spoke of the hospitality that the franchise has provided them with, which has benefitted the team’s overall performance. “The franchise also looks after each and every aspect of the players. They also look after their families... that is what I felt when we came back after two years and won the title. Our families were there, kids were playing. You know how things are... we play a lot of matches and travel a lot and the presence of kids help us remain calm.”

Since CSK generally picks experienced senior players in their team, Ashwin took this opportunity to put forth his opinion. "Initially people talked about how T20 is a young man's sport. But over the years I have felt it can be dealt only by experienced people. People who have the experience of playing for years are the ones who have been delivering for years," he said.

While exchanging praises, Raina said that the team’s captian M.S. Dhoni always believed in the wicket-keeping abilities of Ashwin. “If you see your powerplay bowling average, it has always been below six, you have always provided us with breakthroughs that’s why MS believed in you. When you played for Pune and Punjab, I told my team to be careful against you as you had good carrom balls and they always used to trouble the batsmen.”