CSK will not part ways with Suresh Raina before IPL 2021. | Photo credit: IANS
Key points
- Suresh Raina had withdrawn from the 2020 IPL season citing personal reasons after COVID cases emerged at the team’s camp in the United Arab Emirates.
- Reports claim that Suresh Raina had a dispute with CSK team management over her hotel room in Dubai
- Amid reports that he may not play for CSK again, a CSK official has confirmed that Raina will remain in the franchise.
Suresh Raina is set to return for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Raina had withdrawn from IPL 2020 before the start of the season, citing personal reasons. He had returned home from the United Arab Emirates after COVID-19 cases emerged at CSK camp in Dubai. However, some reports also claimed that Raina had a dispute with the CSK team management over the hotel room assigned to her in Dubai.
Amid speculation that he might not play for CSK again, a franchise official has confirmed that ‘Chinna Thala’ will return with the Men in Yellow at IPL 2021. The official said the three-time champions are looking to have Raina on board again. after a disappointing seventh place at IPL 2020 without him.
“He will be with us. There are no plans to separate from him, ”the Mumbai Mirror quoted a senior CSK official as saying.
Raina was in the news recently for all the wrong reasons after he was arrested at a Mumbai nightclub along with a host of other celebrities for violating COVID-19 rules. The CSK star was later released on bail. The former Indian batsman later in a statement stated that he was not aware of the guidelines and times issued by the Maharashtra government.
Reacting to Raina’s arrest, the CSK official maintained that the incident had nothing to do with the team’s plans for the 2021 IPL season and that the left-hander will play for the three-time champions. “We have only read about the arrest. Our plans have nothing to do with that development. He will continue to be with us, ”said the franchise official.
Raina has been part of the Chennai Super Kings team since the inaugural IPL season in 2008. He captained the Gujarat Lions in the 2016 and 2017 seasons when CSK was expelled from the IPL. He has been instrumental in CSK’s phenomenal success in the tournament over the years and is the franchise’s top scorer with 4,527 runs for the three-time IPL champions.
CSK, who held the record for reaching the playoffs in all ten seasons leading up to the 2020 IPL, failed to reach the knockout stages for the first time in season 13 when Raina was not on the team. Raina is, overall, the second highest to record runs in IPL with 5,368 in 193 games behind only RCB captain Virat Kohli, who has 5,878 runs in 192 games.
