No place for MS Dhoni! Suresh Raina picks this player as captain in his IPL 2023 playing XI

Parthiv Patel and Zaheer Khan were also present in the show with the former too excluding Dhoni from the list, but Zaheer Khan made the 41-year-old his team's captain.

No place for MS Dhoni! Suresh Raina picks this player as captain in his IPL 2023 playing XI

Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Image via Twitter)

Suresh Raina, who played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the majority part of his Indian Premier League (IPL) career, did not include MS Dhoni in his IPL 2023 playing XI list. This came as an absolute surprise since Dhoni has led Yellow Jersey to four IPL trophies. However, in Raina’s list, it’s Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya who is named as the captain.

Raina revealed his playing XI during an interaction with Aakash Chopra on JioCinema. Parthiv Patel and Zaheer Khan were also present in the show with the former too excluding Dhoni from the list, but Zaheer Khan made the 41-year-old his team’s captain.

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Suresh Raina’s IPL 2023 playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Substitutes: Cameron Green, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jitesh Sharma, Matheesha Pathirana, and Yash Thakur.

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Suresh Raina lavishes praise on MS Dhoni after CSK reach final

No place for MS Dhoni! Suresh Raina picks this player as captain in his IPL 2023 playing XI
MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina (Image via Twitter)

On Tuesday (May 23), GT suffered a 15-run defeat against CSK in the first Qualifier in Chennai, which helped the latter reach the IPL final for a record-extending 10th time, having won the coveted cup on four occasions. After the victory, Chinna Thala, that is Suresh Raina, who played crucial roles in the team’s previous title-winning seasons, lavished praise on Thala.

“Look at how they reached the finals, I think it’s a great achievement. MS Dhoni kept it simple. He deserves credit and Ruturaj (Gaikwad) had told me that CSK wants to win the title for Dhoni. Entire India wants to see Dhoni win the IPL,” Raina said on Jio Cinema. “Everything he touches turns to gold, and that’s why he’s named Mahendra Singh Dhoni.”

The Chennai-based franchise, in the league matches, finished second in the points table with eight wins and five defeats in 14 matches, collecting 17 points. Meanwhile, the Hardik Pandya-led GT will be locking horns with Mumbai Indians on Friday (May 26) in the second Qualifier; the winner of the match will square off against MS Dhoni and Co. in the final on Sunday (May 28).

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