Why is Suresh Raina Called Chinna Thala by CSK Fans?

As MS Dhoni continues to hog the limelight in the ongoing 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), his side Chennai Super Kings are playing tonight without their legendary batter and former Indian Southpaw batter Suresh Raina, for the the very first time in their home ground at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The ‘Yellow Army’ has played a total of 60 matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, also known as the Chepauk Stadium, since the inaugural edition of the league in 2007/08. These matches also include the now-defunct Champions League T20 tournament games as well, and Raina had not missed any of these CSK matches until tonight, against the Lucknow Super Giants.

For those unaware, CSK are back at the Chepauk for the first time since the 2019 edition of the IPL, or after 1,426 days to be precise. The last time they had played at their home crowd was on May 7, 2019.

Why is Suresh Raina Called Chinna Thala by CSK Fans?

While MS Dhoni is widely popular as ‘Thala‘ amongst the CSK fans, Raina will forever be remembered as their ‘Chinna Thala‘.

‘Chinna Thala‘ simply means a ‘junior leader’ or ‘head’ in the Tamil language, a deputy to their ‘Thala‘ in the CSK team. Raina played for the CSK across all seasons until the 2019 edition. He took a break from IPL 2020 due to personal reasons, but joined them back the next year.

However, as a result of poor batting form during IPL 2021, he was not picked by the franchise during the mega auction ahead of IPL 2022. On September 2022, he finally decided to retire from all forms of Cricket.

Suresh Raina once remarked how he felt being called ‘Chinna Thala’

Exactly three years ago, Raina was asked by the renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle, as to how he feels when the CSK fans refer to him as ‘Chinna Thala‘.

Raina replied to the question by stating that the nickname makes him feel like home, and denotes the love, respect, and acceptance that the Chennai family has given him over the years.

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