Rift over hotel room led to Suresh Raina's IPL 2020 exit: Report

After Suresh Raina returned to India from the UAE after opting out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, several reasons are being cited and rumors doing the rounds. One of the news ones making the rounds is that he returned because of his children while a few suggested that his uncle was killed in Punjab.

However, as per IANS' sources claimed that the reason was more "stupid". "It was a stupid reason, nothing much. He was not happy with the room given to him. It all started when he came to the UAE, along with the team. Other CSK members tried to convince him but he didn`t listen to anybody," sources in the UAE said.

Meanwhile, N. Srinivasan, Chief of India Cements which owns CSK, has also made some shocking revelations. He was quoted as saying that Raina found the rules of the bio-bubble claustrophobic and wanted a room with a balcony like CSK captain MS Dhoni had.

Srinivasan also said Raina's sudden exit left the team in a bit of shock but skipper Dhoni "was in complete control of the situation." Raina was unavailable for comment.

If sportspersons, who are used to playing in open areas, do feel claustrophobic in closed environment, it is not surprising or Raina's is not the first such case.

Last week, reports suggested that Raina's 58-year-old uncle had succumbed to fatal injuries sustained during an attack by armed robbers in a Punjab town. A group of four members of the notorious `Kale Kachhewala` gang had attacked the family while asleep on the terrace of their residence, police said. The incident occurred in Thariyal village near Madhopur in Pathankot district on the night of August 19. The robbers were armed with lethal weapons.

The cricketer's uncle was identified as Ashok Kumar, a government contractor who had sustained grievous head injuries during the assault. His 80-year-old mother Satya Devi, his wife Asha Devi, sons -- Apin and Kaushal - too suffered injuries, said the police.

It was also reported that Asha Devi, sister of Raina`s father, is fighting hard for survival.

In May, when India`s 1975 World Cup-winning hockey goal-keeper Ashok Diwan returned from the USA, after meeting his son, he found his 11-day quarantined in a Delhi hotel like a "jail" and felt suffocated in his room with no fresh air and sealed windows.

(With IANS inputs)