Suresh Raina and Ravi Shastri, former head coach of the Indian team, will take on new roles in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Raina, who played in IPL from the first season up until 2021, was not picked up in this year’s auction. Because of this, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Lucknow Super Giants were also heavily criticized in the internet media, since Raina played only for CSK and Gujarat Lions in IPL.
Additionally, he captained the Gujarat Lions when CSK was suspended for two years. CSK rehired him after the suspension. However, due to being from Uttar Pradesh, the fans also hoped the new IPL team Lucknow would take them, but it did not. Although he won’t be playing in the world’s biggest league this year, he will be a commentator on Star Sports. At the same time, Ravi Shastri will be doing commentary in Hindi for the first time in IPL after leaving the post of coach of Team India.
Sanjog Gupta, Disney Star’s head of sports, says in an interview with Dainik Jagran that Raina will not play in IPL this year, but we wanted to connect him somehow. Known as Mr IPL, he was once the highest run scorer in the IPL. His fan base numbers in the millions. Shastri used to commentate in English for our Star Sports channel. After the Champions Trophy final in 2017, he stopped doing it. He became the head coach of the Indian team.
The special thing about this commentary is that it will be in Hindi and not in English. Sanjog said Shastri is more inclined towards Hindi, so he also takes Hindi classes from our teacher on Zoom. Notes are also being sent to him. Rehearsals for commentary have also been conducted. We want the spirit he has to be maintained and he should also speak good Hindi so the audience will enjoy it.
Sunil-Ravi pairing not decided: When Sanjog was asked if Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri will once again be seen doing commentary together, he said that it is not yet decided. Besides Gavaskar, a team will also be in the bio-bubble to provide commentary in Hindi. Commentators from the same team will go on the field while the other team will stay in the studio. Now, we need to see whether the pair of these two can work together or not.
