Suresh Raina, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket along with MS Dhoni, will not be playing IPL 2020 for Chennai Super Kings. In a statement released by the franchise CEO Kasi Viswanathan, it read, “Suresh Raina has returned to India for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the remainder of the IPL season. Chennai Super Kings offers complete support to Suresh and his family during this time.” The latest development is a further blow to the Chennai Super Kings campaign, which is presently in disarray after one team player and 11 staff members were tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday.
There is no confirmed reports as to why Raina was leaving the Chennai Super Kings team but this continues their woeful start prior to the IPL. The coronavirus impact on the three-time champions side has put their entire preparation in disarray. While the names of those infected are still unknown, the Chennai-based franchise is yet to officially make a statement on it and they are expected to do so on Saturday. As per numerous claims, at least 10 CSK members in the CSK team - including one Indian cricketer - are among the list of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dubai.
Testing reveals COVID
The entire CSK squad, including support staff and officials, underwent their fourth COVID-19 test on Friday. The results of the latest tests will come out on Saturday. They further added that no support staff member has tested positive and only a member of social media team and two net bowlers have returned positive. An official statement is likely to be released by CSK shortly. With the 13th edition of the IPL just less than a month away, teams are gearing up to prepare for the tournament which will be held in the UAE in a bio-secure environment.
In Abu Dhabi, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders began their practice sessions after being in quarantine for close to six days. Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI PUnjab have also started training as they were the earliest to come to the UAE. However, the situation in Chennai Super Kings is proving to be worrisome and it will take a lot of effort to ensure the tournament goes through without any more COVID mishaps.
More to follow
