In a major blow to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Indian batsman Suresh Raina has pulled out of the upcoming 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to ‘personal reasons’.
The Chennai-based franchise took to its official Twitter handle to confirm that Raina has returned to India and will miss the entire 13th season of the lucrative T20 tournament.
“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,”CSK wrote quoting a statement from CEO KS Viswanathan.
The news comes a day after it was reported that almost 12 members of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Earlier on August 15, out-of-favour batsman Raina announced his retirement from the international cricket, minutes after experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni called curtains on his international career.
Raina last represented the national side during a One-Day International (ODI) series against England in July 2018.
Raina made his international debut for India with an ODI clash against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in July 2005.The Indian batsman amassed a total of 768 runs in 18 Tests, 5,615 runs in 226 ODIs and 1,605 runs in 78 T20Is.
Besides this, Raina also notched up 8,078 runs in 302 List-A games and 6,871 runs in 109 first-class matches.
Raina was also part of the Indian squad that lifted the ICC Men’s World Cup title after a long wait of 28 years after a victory over Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium.
The 2020 IPL is slated to take place from September 19 to November 10 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The lucrative T20 tournament was earlier postponed indefinitely by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to coronavirus pandemic