In another major blow to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp, Suresh Raina has returned to India and will not take part in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in UAE, scheduled to be played from September 19 to November 10.
The CSK franchise on Saturday informed that Raina left the team’s bio-secure bubble and went back to India for “personal reasons”.
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“Suresh Raina has returned to India for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the remainder of the IPL season,” CSK CEO K.S. Viswanathan was quoted as saying on the official Twitter handle on the Chennai-based franchise. “Chennai Super Kings offers complete support to Suresh and his family during this time.”
The development comes a day after the yellow franchise was hit with a flurry of coronavirus cases. Reportedly a total of 12 members of the squad, including players and coaching/support staff, have tested positive for COVID-19 since arriving in UAE.
IANS reported on Friday that the entire CSK team had been quarantined after the development.
“A total of 12 members have been found infected and the entire team has been told to go under quarantine. It is learnt that they got infected during a camp in Chennai,” said the sources. “Other teams have also requested the BCCI to issue a statement for the safety of the cricketers in the UAE.” CSK had landed in Dubai on August 21 and underwent the mandatory six-day quarantine period.
Meanwhile, Raina had recently annouhis retirement from international cricket, calling curtains to his 13-year long career. He had represented India in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is.
The 33-year-old has so far played 193 games for CSK in which he has accumulated more than 5,000 runs at a strike rate of above 137. Besides, he has also picked 25 wickets.