As of now, there are two theories to Suresh Raina’s sudden exit from the Indian Premier League 2020.At a time when Chennai Super Kings find themselves amid the COVID-19 scare with 13 personnel including two players down with the dreaded virus, the franchise struck another huge blow when Raina opted to leave Dubai for India citing “personal reason”.
And while teammate Shane Watson might have sent out a heartfelt message for the veteran Indian cricketer calling him the “heartbeat” of the team, the management might look beyond Raina in IPL 2020.
One theory suggests the murder of his relative by robbers in a village in Punjab’s Pathankot on August 20, PTI had reported that earlier on Friday that ongoing COVID-19 fears had urged him to head back home.
But on Saturday, Outlook reported that a hotel room rift might have been the reason behind Raina’s departure.The report added that Raina was unhappy with the room allotted to him in the hotel when CSK landed in Dubai on August 21.Finding the BCCI SOP’s claustrophobic, Raina was looking for a room similar to MS Dhoni, with a balcony.The captain failed to pacify his deputy.
CSK owner and former BCCI president N Srinivasan, speaking to Outlook, admitted that Raina’s departure was shocking and called him “prima donna”.
