Suresh Raina pulled out of the 13th edition of the Indian Super League (IPL) 2020 due to "personal reasons". The veteran Indian batsman had travelled to UAE along with other CSK players.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer Suresh Raina has admitted that the decision to leave IPL 2020 camp was not an easy step to take, but had to do so because of family reasons. Last month, Raina pulled out of the 13th edition of the Indian Super League (IPL) 2020 due to "personal reasons". The veteran Indian batsman had travelled to UAE along with other CSK players.
Suresh Raina's uncle was unfortunately killed in an alleged attack by robbers in the Pathankot district of Punjab.
"It was a personal decision and I had to come back for my family. What happened to my family was beyond horrible. My uncle was slaughtered to death, my bua (aunt) and both my cousins had severe injuries. Unfortunately, my cousin passed away after battling for life," Raina told ANI.
"My bua (aunt) is in a critical situation and is on life support and all this needed to be addressed immediately at the home front so I took this decision of coming back and be with family. CSK is my family too and Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai is most important to me and this was a tough decision which I had to take. With the family back home, I had to come back for them," the left-handed batsman said.
As per latest reports, Harbhajan Singh is also set to join Raina after reportedly making himself unavailable for IPL 2020.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the alleged killing of Raina's uncle and cousin case, said Punjab police on Tuesday.
"Police and administration are investigating the matter and I hope the culprits will be nabbed soon. My family is most important for me and I am really concerned for them during these times. I have not seen my kids for more than 20 days, even after coming back, because I was in quarantine," Raina added.
Speaking about the 13 personnel including two players of the camp who had tested positive for COVID-19 and the bio-bubble, Raina said: "It was heartbreaking of course. This is a very deadly disease and even after so many precautions if the staff gets infected it just says how bad it can be and it can happen to anyone. I hope everyone gets well soon.
"Team management and BCCI are doing a commendable job keeping everyone safe they are taking all the precautions as per BCCI SOP. This has never been done before and it's new for everyone. It's a highly secure environment and no one without access can move anywhere. We were all inside our rooms with no human interaction and there was a test every 2 days," he added.
Talking about the future with CSK and comments of N Srinivasan, the former India player said, "He is a father figure to me and he always stood by me and is close to my heart. He treats me like his younger son and I am sure a lot is taken out of context. Yellow is for life."
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.
(with ANI inputs)
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