Ever since Suresh Raina left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp in United Arab Emirates (UAE) to return to India, various kinds of stories have surfaced speculating the cause of his departure.

While some media reports suggested that Raina did not want to risk his health after 13 members of the CSK squad tested positive for COVID-19, some other stated that the former Indian cricketer was unhappy with the room he was provided in the team hotel.

Advertisement

However, Raina has now debunked all these rumoured theories and said that his family required him with them after his uncle was killed in Punjab. Few others in his family was also harmed by some anti-social elements.

The 33-year-old has also dropped hints that he might return to the UAE in the near future to be a part of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League that is set to be played there from September 19 to November 10.

“These are all fabricated stories and anyone who knows me, knows that these are all stories planted by people who don’t want me or CSK to succeed,” Raina was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview to NDTV.

“You never know, you might see me in the camp again. First, I have to take care of my responsibilities here and then am ready.

“It was a personal decision and I had to come back for my family. There was something that needed to be addressed immediately at the home front.

“CSK is my family too and Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) is most important to me and this was a tough decision but with the family back home, I had to come back for them,” the left-hander added.

CSK owner N Srinivasan had lashed out at Raina for leaving the team days ahead of the IPL and said that it was immature behaviour from the cricketer.

However, Raina has cleared the air about Srinivasan as well and said that the former BCCI president did not know the reason earlier and that everything had been sorted now.

“He is like a father figure for me and he’s always stood by me and is close to my heart, he treats me like his younger son and am sure a lot is taken out of context,” Raina said.

“He didn’t know the reason earlier and its all settled.”

Raina left a day after the yellow franchise was hit with a flurry of coronavirus cases. A total of 13 members of the squad, including players and coaching/support staff, have tested positive for COVID-19 since arriving in UAE.

The 2020 season of the IPL will be played for 53 days from September 19 to November 10 across three venues in the UAE — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.

The final match will be played on a Tuesday, to make it the first-ever IPL to have its final on a weekday. The matches this season will also start 30 minutes before their original time of 4 PM and 8 PM.

The IPL 2020, which was scheduled to be played from March 29 this year, was earlier postponed to April 15 before it was suspended again due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.