Guwahati: Chennai Super Kings's talismanic batsman Suresh Raina will miss the whole of IPL 2020 after choosing to return home due to "personal reasons", the side confirmed on Twitter.
"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," KS Viswanathan, the CEO of the side, said in a statement that has been made available on social media.
The 33-year-old Raina had recently announced his international retirement, moments after his former captain MS Dhoni, chose to call time on his career. Following this Raina travelled with the CSK squad to Dubai on August 21.
Raina had also been part of a five-day pre-departure camp in Chennai along with captain MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, M Vijay and bowling consultant Laxmipathy Balaji.
It needs mention here that the CSK squad had been in quarantine over the last week until it emerged yesterday that they would continue to remain so after a few members from the team, including an unnamed player, tested positive for the coronavirus. The team and the BCCI have not made an official statement on the matter, so it is not yet known if Raina's decision to return to India has anything to do with yesterday's development.
Notably, Raina is the team's leading run-getter from the side, aggregating 4527 runs from 164 IPL games for the franchise. The No.3 batsman featured in 158 consecutive games for CSK (IPL + CPL) before missing his first game in the 2018 season with a calf injury. Needless to say, Raina's absence will be a major setback for the side that has won the coveted IPL championship 3 times.