Suresh Raina‘s sudden decision to opt out of IPL 2020 was driven by concerns over staying in a bio-secure environment for three months, as well as a personal tragedy back home, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo.
Raina, 33, who recently retired from international cricket, flew back from the CSK camp in UAE to India on Saturday, 29th August, a day after it emerged that at least 13 people, including two players, had tested positive for Covid-19 among 1,988 tests conducted between August 20 to 28. It is understood that at least ten players from CSK are among those who have tested positive.
According to the report, Raina felt “cooped up” in his hotel room and was finding it difficult to get accustomed to the bio-secure bubble in place for the team. He is said to have divulged his issues to Kasi Viswanathan, the team CEO, skipper MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming, deciding to leave the camp more than 20 days before the start of the tournament to be with his family, which includes two young kids.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]
In a statement on Saturday, Viswanathan had announced Raina’s decision to return, stating that the top-order batsman, currently the second-highest IPL run-getter, will be unavailable for the remainder of the IPL season.
With 193 matches, Raina is the most-capped player in the IPL and has missed only one game for CSK in ten seasons for the franchise.
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.
KS Viswanathan
CEO— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 29, 2020
It has also emerged that Raina had to deal with the loss of his uncle, who was killed when his extended family was attacked in India on August 19.
According to the guidelines, each team is supposed to undergo a six-day quarantine upon their arrival in UAE for the tournament, set to be played from September 19 to November 10. The CSK squad arrived in Dubai on August 21 but decided to push their return to practice to September 1, after members of their contingent were tested positive from tests conducted on the fifth day of isolation.
Raina was part of the CSK’s IPL pre-season camp that was held from August 15 to August 20 before their departure, the only team to undergo a preparatory camp ahead of their UAE trip.
