Known as the Mr. IPL, Suresh Raina said that after batting at number 3, he has got the right that the left-handed player played his natural game after becoming the first batsman in the history of the tournament to complete 5000 runs.
15 runs needed before the match, Raina scored 19 runs to achieve landmark as Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets. In addition to playing two seasons for the Gujarat Lions so far, Raina has been associated with Chennai since the start of the tournament and has been his most consistent batsman.
I am playing at number 3 since the beginning and it allows you to play a lot of overs. My batting style is quite light. Batting at that place gives me plenty of freedom and it gives me permission to bat. Conditions, "Raina told his teammate Harbhajan Singh in an interview for the IPL's official website.
He said, "I have played with many players and have taken the responsibility of making runs for my team. I get a license to attack within six over.
"It is not always easy and you have to stay in the present. I am really happy that I have scored 5,000 runs and we have won the first match of this season."
However, it was Harbhajan who emerged as a true star for Chennai and he was selected as the Man of the Match for his performance. This off-spinner removed Virat Kohli, Moin Ali and AB de Villiers in his spell and broke the back of Bangalore's batting.
Due to being out of the match for the last 12 months, 38-year-old admitted that he was under some pressure, but now he feels that he is still here.
"I am really happy, yes, I was under a lot of pressure because I did not play too much cricket before this match. I played three matches for Punjab only, but it was good to practice here, get my rhythm back," he said.
"I was called to bowl in the second over and once when I bowled a ball, I realized that" The lion is boozer but not the doer (this old lion still can hunt) " Help came from the surface, but with the new ball, the old ball was changing quite a bit.
"It was very challenging for me to perform for my team and getting Virat, AB and Moin, hopefully I can contribute with the ball and bat if needed."
