The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) received one blow after another in the past couple of days. As many as 13 members of their touring party in the UAE were diagnosed as COVID-19 positive.
Out of the 13 members, two of them were found out to be players, namely Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaekwad.
Then, CSK CEO, Kasi Vishwanathan had to announce the departure of their talisman, Suresh Raina, who pulled out of the tournament, citing personal reasons.
Now, Raina has opened up about the reason behind his decision to withdraw from the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Nothing more important than kids,” Raina told Dainik Jagran in a recent interaction.
Raina’s young family comprises of wife Priyanka, daughter Gracia and five-month-old son Rio. With the growing number of COVID-19 positive cases in the CSK camp, Raina got worried about his family and decided to come back home.
The 33-year-old is renowned for putting his family first over everything else.
Earlier, Raina pulled out of a first-class season to take care of his ailing daughter.
The former Indian international has reached Delhi and is in quarantine.
Reports have also emerged about Raina’s uncle’s demise in an assailant attack in Pathankot. Further, four other family members were left injured.
Raina’s uncle, Ashok Kumar, succumbed to head injuries, while sister Asha Devi is currently undergoing treatment.
The incident took place at Thariyal village of Punjab’s Pathankot district on August 19.
It was only a few days back when Raina announced his international retirement along with close-friend and CSK teammate MS Dhoni.
Amidst the lockdown and self-isolation period, Raina appeared enthused about the resumption of cricket via IPL 2020.
In the meantime, CSK CEO, Vishwanath has revealed that the team would not look at Raina’s replacement immediately.
Raina’s exit out of the IPL is a massive dent to CSK as he is amongst the all-time leading run-scorers of the tournament.
