Suresh Raina’s highly successful journey with Chennai Super Kings might have come to an end in the wake of his unceremonious departure from UAE. The left-handed batsman left everyone shell shocked last week by deciding to return to India ahead of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise stated that the southpaw cited personal reasons to pull out of the competition.
The former India batsman, who retired from international cricket earlier this month, is yet to speak on the matter. According to a report, the team management was not particularly happy with the batsman’s “conduct” during the quarantine time, something which infuriated Super Kings owner and former BCCI president N Srinivasan.
“In CSK, the norm is that the coach, captain and the manager get suites. However, Raina also gets a suite in any hotel that the franchise stays. It’s just that his room didn’t have a balcony,” an IPL source told PTI.
“It was an issue but I don’t think big enough to warrant a comeback (to India). There could be something more than just the scare of rising COVID-caseload in Chennai,” the source added.
End of road for Suresh Raina?:
The source further stated that the recent turn of events might have ended the batsman’s journey with Chennai Super Kings. He stated the three-time champions are unlikely to pick Suresh Raina again as he is not much active in the game.
“He is unavailable this season and that is clear from the official statement issued by the CSK. Now there are certain things that have not gone down too well with the top people,” the source said.
“It looks highly improbable that someone who has retired and likely won’t play any cricket will come back for CSK. Maybe, he will be back in auction and someone else might pick him,” he added.
Suresh Raina is Super Kings’ highest run-getter with 4527 runs from 164 IPL games. The Uttar Pradesh left-hander is also the second-highest scorer in IPL history with 5368 runs, second only to Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s 5412 runs.