After MS Dhoni stepped down as captain of Chennai Super Kings, handing over captaincy to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, farewell messages started pouring in for Dhoni as well as congratulatory wishes for Jadeja. This will be the first time since the league's inaugural edition that Dhoni will not be leading the Super Kings. The 2022 season is also the first time since the 2008 season that Raina will not be part of the CSK's roaster. Although he did miss the 2020 season after returning home from UAE for personal reasons.
The left-handed batter is CSK's highest run-scorer in history and played a key role in each of their 4 IPL title wins including winning the Man of the Match (MOTM) award in the 2010 final against Mumbai Indians when the Chennai-based franchise won their maiden title. On Star Sports' pre-match show ahead of the tournament opener between CSK and KKR, Raina got emotional seeing CSK play from afar and expressed his willingness to put on the yellow CSK jersey and go into the stadium. "As soon I passed the stadium coming on the show, I was wishing that I can quietly wear the yellow jersey and enter the stadium," said Raina.Raina went unsold on the first day of the mega auction and was not included in the final list of players for the accelerated process as no teams asked for his name to go under the hammer once again on the second day.
