Suresh Raina the Chennai Super Kings veteran batsman finally opened up on his premature exit from the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League 2020. He quashed rumours that were surfacing over his exit before the start of IPL, with one of them being a quarrel with the team management over accommodation in a hotel room.
Speaking to NDTV, Suresh Raina highlighted the reason behind his departure from IPL besides criticizing those who were spreading fake rumours of his decision to return home. One of them said that he had a fallout with team management over his hotel room in Dubai.
Suresh Raina Terms Accusations Of Accommodation Issues False And Fabricated
The rumour claimed he wanted to have accommodation like captain MS Dhoni and headed home when he was denied so. The left-handed southpaw termed these accusations false and fabricated by persons who didn’t want the success of him or his franchise.
“These are all fabricated stories and anyone who knows me, knows that these are all stories planted by people who don’t want me or CSK to succeed,” Raina told NDTV.
The hotel room rumour was one of many theories revolving around him with some reports even suggesting that he and skipper MS Dhoni had a fight which led to his decision to head back home. Some even reported a rift between Suresh Raina and boss N Srinivasan.
“CSK is family for me, it’s like home. A lot of what was said was taken out of context and Sreeni sir is like a father figure to me. He treats me like his own and when he got to know why I had to leave he understood the reason,” Raina said, issuing clarification on reports of rift between him and the franchise.
Suresh Raina who is the first batsman to reach 5000 runs in IPL. He has scored 5368 runs so far in 193 matches averaging a healthy 33.34.
Suresh Raina Maintains Decision To Return Was A Personal One
The 33-year-old maintained that his decision to return home was truly personal, with the outbreak of virus within the CSK camp playing a role in his exit. Suresh Raina’s uncle was killed by masked hooligans at Pathankot which left his aunt critical and his two cousins seriously injured.
“It was a personal decision and I had to come back for my family. There was something that needed to be addressed immediately at the home front and CSK is my family too and Mahi bhai is most important to me and this was a tough decision but with the family back home, I had to come back for them,” Raina added.
Suresh Raina hasn’t ruled out a return to the 13th edition of IPL at a later stage of the season depending on the development of the situation persisting due to corona-virus. As many as 13 members of CSK including two players Deepak Chahar and Rituraj Gaekwad were tested positive after arriving in UAE and were isolated from the other members and their health was being monitored by IPL medical team.