Suresh Raina has fond memories of the 2011 ICC World Cup where he joined his teammates in paying tribute to Sachin Tendulkar. They all lifted the Master Blaster on their shoulders and took a victory lap of the Wankhede Stadium. Now, Raina wants to repeat history at the Wankhede for Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“MS (Dhoni) delivered a very moving speech when our team gathered in Chennai before the start of this year’s IPL. He got quite emotional. He cares so much for Chennai, we all do. He has been amazing for CSK since 2008 and is one of the nicest guys around. So this time, we want to win the IPL for Dhoni,” said Raina at a promotional event for ASICS. “He gets criticized so often and every time answers his critics back through his performance. Sometimes, you need to see it from an emotional side as well. We definitely have a team which can win it for MS this time. You need to do something every time he turns up and that is the reason we want to win the IPL for Dhoni. Hopefully, by God’s grace, we will win the final this time, we haven’t done it since 2011 so I really want to do it this time,”.

So far, the Chennai Super Kings have cashed in eight wins from 12 games. Their form was such that it was almost hard to believe they were gone for 2 years.

“We are all ready for the playoffs. Those will be difficult games but our unit is very confident right now. This season we batted really well as a group. Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu gave us good starts, then myself, followed by MS Dhoni who has been batting so well. Having someone like Bhajju Pa (Harbhajan) in the team is always so inspiring. He not only makes you laugh so often but also motivates you to perform, for your team and country. He is such a wonderful entertainer along with (Dwayne) Bravo. So if you see our team is so much experienced and has so many match winners in it. I remember reading somewhere after the auction that Chennai team is a bunch of old guys. But it is all about experience and how well you use it,” said Raina.