Under the watchful eyes of their captain MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) players started their practice sessions at the Chepauk on March 9 – but veteran batsman Suresh Raina is yet to join the training camp.
To start well is great and to finish strong 💪 is epic! Super Morning Lions!! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁 💛 pic.twitter.com/eARNp5moqk
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 17, 2021
Raina was supposed to join his CSK teammates on March 15, i.e. six days after the beginning of the practice sessions in Chennai. However, the former India international will now be joining the camp only after March 24, as recently revealed by CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan.
“He [Raina] has some personal work to attend. Once he finishes it he will join us. He has communicated to us that he will join the camp after March 24,” Kashi told InsideSport.
For the unversed, Raina had pulled out of IPL 2020 at the last moment citing “personal reasons”. Reports had suggested that ‘Chinna Thala’ had left the CSK camp after his fallout with the team owners. While Raina maintained his stand for missing the IPL, CSK co-owner N. Srinivasan had a strong word of caution for him.
However, Kashi further said that there is no problem between Raina and management, and their star batsman will join soon. “There is no problem. He has some personal commitments and taken permission from the team for joining a bit late. Let us respect every individual’s decision on this.”
In January this year, the Super Kings retained 18 of their core members from the previous edition of the tournament. The following month, they further enhanced their squad with new additions in the form of Moeen Ali, Cheteshwar Pujara, Krishnappa Gowtham and C Hari Nishanth.
Here’s the list of CSK players slated to participate in IPL 2021:
MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, N. Jagadeesan, Robin Uthappa, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, R. Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, KM Asif, Moeen Ali, Cheteshwar Pujara, Krishnappa Gowtham, C Hari Nishanth, Bhagath Varma, Harishankar Reddy.
