Suresh Raina, who is the leading run-scorer for Chennai Super Kings pulled out of Indian Premier League citing personal issues. The franchise suffered a huge blow when the 33-year-old, who recently retired from international cricket decided not to take part in IPL 2020, although he travelled with the team to Dubai on August 21.
Prior to his decision, he had also taken part in the five-day pre-departure camp in Chennai along with his captain MS Dhoni and bowling consultant Laxmipathy Balaji. But the former Indian left-handed batsman left before the season was about to commence from September 19. Several other Indians like Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu and Murali Vijay had also participated in the preconditioning camp.
CSK. Image Credit: Getty Images.
Suresh Raina’s Uncle Killed By Unidentified Assailants In Pathankot
Speculations started following his departure and reports were doing the rounds that the batsman pulled out after his paternal uncle was killed during a robbery. The attack took place on August 19 night when unidentified assailants attacked the sleeping family with lethal weapons. In Pathankot’s Thariyal village, the attack occurred leaving his 58-year-old uncle dead while injuring his cousins. His aunt is in critical condition and fighting for survival.
Suresh Raina Image credits: Twitter
Suresh Raina has returned to India for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the remainder of the IPL season. Chennai Super Kings offers complete support to Suresh and his family during this time.
But, this theory appeared a bit unlikely and unconvincing since he passed away on August 19 while the batsman had left for Dubai on August 21 and departed for India on August 28. Ajay Sethi who is chairman of the Channel 2 Group holding broadcast rights of major cricketing events in UAE besides being a family friend of Suresh Raina has confirmed the reason behind the withdrawal.
Suresh Raina Left Due To Concerns About Family: Ajay Sethi
Speaking to Gulf News, he confirmed that the Uttar Pradesh born star pulled out of IPL due to fears regarding COVID-19. He stated that he talked to the batsman over the phone and the latter stated that he left UAE as he was getting concerned about his family comprising his wife and two young children.
“Suresh (Raina) called me back after repeated messages from me during the day. He apologised to the fans of the UAE and said he decided to leave the CSK camp suddenly as he was getting concerned about his wife Priyanka and their two young children, four-year-old daughter Gracia and four-month old son Rio in view of the pandemic situation back home.”
Suresh Raina.
“Raina told me that he started missing the family badly, especially the children, from the time he landed in Dubai. Since the CSK team management decided against players travelling with their families in the initial stages of the IPL, they could not accompany him either and even Rio’s passport was not ready,”said Sethi.
Suresh Raina’s absence will be a big blow for the three-time IPL champions since he is the franchise’s all-time leading run-scorer, amassing 4527 runs from 164 IPL games for the team. The left-handed batsman featured in 158 consecutive games for CSK before missing his first match in the 2018 season with a calf injury. It will be hard to find Suresh Raina’s replacement and has dealt another blow to the franchise who are concerned with at least 13 members testing positive for corona-virus.
