Bengaluru, August 29: Suresh Raina, the batting mainstay of Chennai Super Kings, will miss the entire IPL 2020 due to personal reasons and the left-handed batsman has returned to India, confirmed the CSK management.
"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," said Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of Chennai Super Kings on Saturday (August 29).
It has not been clear yet what has made Raina to return home urgently. It comes as a big blow for Chennai Super Kings after a pacer and 11 of their support staff members were tested positive for Covid 19 on Friday (August 28).
Chahar and those others who are tested positive for Covid 19 will enter a mandatory 14-day quarantine and will have to undergo three further tests before rejoining the CSK fold.
Now, Raina's return will force the Chennai Super Kings to look for a replacement for him for the IPL 2020. Raina has remained a big part of the Chennai Super Kings since their first edition from 2008, and has been their most popular star after captain MS Dhoni.
Both Dhoni and Raina had announced their retirement from international cricket on August 15. However, Raina was expected to lead Chennai's batting in IPL 2020. Raina has this unique record of scoring at least 400 runs in all IPL editions dating back to 2008 and remains the only batsman to do that.
Additionally, Raina has added immense value to Chennai Super Kings as a part time bowler, who often breaks a partnership or control runs in the middle passage of the play. Raina also remains a wonderful fielder irrespective of the position he patrols.
As such, the absence of Raina could prove very costly for Chennai Super Kings as it is tough to find out a player who brings so much to the table along with immense experience.