Suresh Raina terms N Srinivasan ‘father figure’ after IPL 2020 pullout

Suresh Raina shocked the entire world when he suddenly decided to pull out of IPL 2020 for personal reasons. The left-hander, who had announced his retirement from international cricket on the same day as MS Dhoni, had come with the Chennai Super Kings side to the UAE. However, it was reported that Raina was uneasy in leading life in the bio-bubble and after 13 staff members and two players in Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad tested positive for coronavirus, Suresh Raina was not comfortable. In addition, there was a family tragedy in Pathankot that saw his uncle murdered and his aunt wounded.

Suresh Raina’s decision to leave IPL 2020 did not please former BCCI president N Srinivasan. In one interview, Srinivasan said that cricketers were like ‘prima donnas’ and when asked for further clarification, he said he had been quoted out of context.

Raina opens up

Now, Suresh Raina has opened up about Srinivasan’s reaction in a chat with a website. Raina termed N Srinivasan as a father figure and he had every right to scold him for a mistake. “He is like a father figure to me. I am sure a lot of what he said was taken out of context. Ek baap apne bacche ko daant sakta hai (a father can scold his son)," Raina said.

Chennai Super Kings’ preparations for IPL 2020 has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 cases in their camp. The three-time IPL champions are not expected to resume training before September 4. Raina, though, has not ruled out a potential return to the Chennai Super Kings side for IPL 2020. The IPL 2020 is slated to be played from September 19 to November 10, across three venues in the UAE -- Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai. Raina has been the most successful batsman for Chennai Super Kings as he has scored 5,368 runs from 193 matches for the franchise at an average of 33.34.

-With ANI Inputs-