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Chennai Super Kings’ mainstay Suresh Raina has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding his rift with Chennai Super Kings captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Reacting to the reports of an alleged fall out with the Chennai Super Kings team-management over a hotel room in Dubai, the senior batsman termed them as ‘fabricated’ and said it was ‘planted’ by those who don’t want him or CSK to be successful.
Raina revealed said that CSK owner Narayanaswami Srinivasan was wrongly informed about the reason for his exit from the IPL 2020 and he had settled the matter with his boss, who was like his father.
“These are all fabricated stories and anyone who knows me, knows that these are all stories planted by people who don’t want me or CSK to succeed,” Raina was quoted by NDTV.
The former India player also said that ‘a lot of was said was taken out of context. He added, “CSK is family for me, it’s like home. A lot of what was said was taken out of context and Sreeni sir is like a father figure to me. He treats me like his own and when he got to know why I had to leave he understood the reason.”
He hinted at returning to the IPL after resolving his family issues.
Raina had stunned everyone by returning from the UAE due to personal reasons. Many felt that his decision to quit the IPL may have been related to the scare surrounding COVID-19 after two Chennai Super Kings players namely Deepak Chahar and wicketkeeper-batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad tested positive for the virus.
Responding to reports that he was not comfortable in the strict bio-secure environment created for the IPL, Raina added: "I have a young family back home and I was concerned about the fact that if something happened to me, unka kya hoga? (what'll happen to them?)."
The violent attack on his aunt's family in Pathankot also affected his mental state, said Raina. He lost his uncle and a cousin in the alleged case of robbery.
"The Pathankot incident was horrible and has really been very disturbing for everyone in our family."
"And it was my responsibility to come back and take care of them. But since I've returned, I've been in quarantine. So, I still have to go meet my parents and my bua (aunt), who are all in great distress."
He has demanded a thorough probe into the incident.