Chennai Super Kings' Suresh Raina has returned to India due to personal reasons and will miss the entire IPL 2020 season, the franchise tweeted on Saturday. "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," CSK CEO KS Viswanathan was quoted as saying on the team's official Twitter handle. Suresh Raina has been an integral part of the the CSK team from the very beginning and his departure will come as a massive blow to the side.
Raina, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket alongside his CSK and India teammate MS Dhoni, is the highest scorer for CSK in the IPL with 5,368 runs and second highest overall after Virat Kohli's 5,412.
The upcoming IPL season is set to begin on September 19 with Chennai Super Kings taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener.
CSK have been beset by problems even before the tournament has started.
CSK's preparations for the upcoming Indian Premier League hit a snag after it emerged that a bowler and some staff members of the franchise tested positive for COVID-19.
The CSK bowler in question is reportedly a pacer who has represented India. Meanwhile, at least 10 members of the CSK support staff have also tested positive, which has resulted in the entire CSK contingent needing to undergo a fourth COVID-19 test.
Due to the development, the team's quarantine period has now been extended till September 1.