Former Indian all-rounder, Suresh Raina has sparked controversy after equating Chennai’s culture with him being a Brahmin while commentating during Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). Raina, who has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was asked by the TNPL commentators about his connection with Chennai.
AS per the quotes in TOI, Suresh Raina said, “I think I am also a Brahmin. I have been playing since 2004 in Chennai, I love the culture. I love my teammates. I have played with Anirudha Srikanth, Badri (S Badrinath), Bala Bhai (L Balaji). We have a good administration at CSK and we have the license to explore ourselves. I love the culture there, and I’m lucky to be part of CSK.”
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Suresh Raina received widespread backlash on social media for his casteist comments during the TNPL commentary. Here are some of the fans’ reactions to the same:
@ImRaina you should be ashamed yourself.
It seems that you have never experienced real Chennai culture though you have been playing many years for Chennai team. https://t.co/ZICLRr0ZLh
— Suresh (@suresh010690) July 19, 2021
— JC (@jc_writes_) July 19, 2021
Chennai culture is usually projected as Tamil Brahmin culture in some circles, Chennai Express etc.
Filter coffee, Mylapore, Curs Rice with Maggi. Maybe Raina thought that this will help him get close to fans. https://t.co/ZihzCyilaI
— dhadibaby (@Eevera) July 20, 2021
What the heck @ImRaina sir.. you shouldn’t use that word ….. https://t.co/v8AD1Cp0fT pic.twitter.com/TltPoMbYec
— udayyyyyy 👨🏻💻👨🏻💼👨🏻🍳🏋️ (@uday0035) July 19, 2021
Suresh Raina announced his retirement from international cricket on 15th August 2020, moments after former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni decided to hang his boots from international cricket.
Raina has represented India in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is. He was the first Indian to score a century across all three formats of international cricket. Raina, who missed IPL 2020 due to personal reasons, was in decent form before the tournament was suspended due to Covid-19.
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Raina has ruled out the possibility of playing for any other franchise again other than three-time champions CSK. Suresh Raina was forced to shift base to Gujarat Lions for two seasons in 2016 and 2017 during CSK’s suspension for a couple of years from the league but reunited with Dhoni in 2018 and went on to clinch their third IPL title after winning the trophy 2010 and 2011.
