The ‘Chinna Thala’ Suresh Raina took a shocking decision on the early hours of Saturday 29th August as he decided to head back to India owing to personal reasons. Every Chennai Super Kings fan panicked hearing the news of their vice-captain Suresh Raina skipping the IPL season this year.
Many reasons were rumoured in the media but people were still unsure why a seasoned cricketer like Raina suddenly decided to head back. This came as a shock since Raina recently announced his retirement from international cricket and was looking forward to playing in the IPL this year.
Fear of COVID-19 forces Raina to skip IPL 2020
The latest reason coming up is of Suresh Raina fearing of the rising COVID-19 cases in the country. In the last couple of days at least 450 cases are being reported on a daily basis. Hearing this news, Raina decided to catch the latest flight and head back home.
A source told TOI how the things panned up in the earlier night where MS Dhoni, with whom Suresh Raina shares a close association with also tried explaining Raina about the safety protocols followed in Dubai. But since Raina had made up his mind, nothing seemed to work which ultimately led to him leaving the country on urgent basis.
“On Friday night, in fact, there was a huge ruckus. He tried calling all his teammates, coach and captain again and again to share his concerns. MS, in fact also tried explaining things to him but nothing worked. He was badly psyched up and worried. Eventually, everybody else realised there was no point holding him back from travelling back because he was totally gripped by the fear,” Said those close to Times Of India.
The CSK team had arrived in the UAE last week after a week’s camp in Chennai. Ever since their arrival, they have been the biosecure bubble at the Taj Hotel in Dubai. On the late hours of 28th August, it was revealed that about 12 members of the CSK camp have been tested positive.
The members included prominent pace bowler Deepak Chahar and young sensation Ruturaj Gaikwad. As of now the entire CSK team is in quarantine and will begin training later this week.