ROBIN UTHAPPA OPENS UP ABOUT THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS AFTER SURESH RAINA WAS LEFT UNSOLD

CSK has bought Robin Uthappa, who played for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2020 IPL, in an auction in 2021.

Following this, the Chennai Super Kings, who took Uthappa back in this year's mega auction, are making good use of him.

Despite being a senior player, Uthappa continues to deliver excellent performances. In the match against Lucknow, he scored an impressive half-century.

Uthappa gave a good start

Earlier, Uthappa, who made his debut for Chennai in the 2021 play-offs and finals, had amassed an impressive run. Thus, he relied on CSK to bid this time. Before playing for CSK, Dhoni and Uthappa were best friends.

Uthappa has now opened up about what Dhoni told him after joining the CSK team and his return to the CSK team. "One thing I liked in that conversation with MS Dhoni was that on the same day he told me that as of now, I don't directly walk into his playing XI. We will see where it goes in a couple of months but I am not thinking about it at this point in time. When I came, they told me that I might have to wait for my turn. What was really nice was that after that once every 4-5 days, one coach or the other would come and speak to me."

Criticism for not picking up Raina

"I remember when CSK picked me, there were 80% positive comments and 20% negative ones, which is quite normal. Also, a lot of the negative comments came for me because of Suresh Raina not being picked. What I took from that was their loyalty towards one of them who has served CSK for so long. Nothing was personal towards me. But it was their loyalty towards him that they felt like they had to vent it out somewhere."

Chennai Super Kings, who won the IPL trophy for the fourth time last time, have lost all three matches this season.