Why Suresh Raina is not playing IPL 2020?

Today completes one month since Suresh Raina packed his bags and left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to ‘personal reasons’, thus leaving a gaping hole in their middle-order.

While various rumours and speculations were doing the rounds since his flight back to India on August 28, Raina himself broke the silence, clearing the air and clarifying the horrifying events that transpired with his extended family on the night of August 19.

It was reported that Suresh Raina’s uncle and aunt, along with their children, were sleeping in Pathankot’s Tharial village when unidentified assailants entered their house at around 7-8 p.m. and attacked them before fleeing with cash and jewellery.

In a tweet put up on September 1, Suresh Raina confirmed that his uncle died at the spot, while his aunt – sister of Raina’s father – and cousins were extremely critical after suffering severe injuries. Unfortunately, one of his cousins succumbed to the injuries on August 31.

What happened to my family is Punjab was beyond horrible. My uncle was slaughtered to death, my bua & both my cousins had sever injuries. Unfortunately my cousin also passed away last night after battling for life for days. My bua is still very very critical & is on life support.
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) September 1, 2020

Suresh Raina, in a separate tweet, urged the Punjab Police and chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to look into the August 19 events and arrest the people behind the developments. The CM assured him of full cooperation in the matter.

Till date we don’t know what exactly had happened that night & who did this. I request @PunjabPoliceInd to look into this matter. We at least deserve to know who did this heinous act to them. Those criminals should not be spared to commit more crimes. @capt_amarinder @CMOPb
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) September 1, 2020

The accused were arrested, confirmed Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina after scoring a fifty in IPL 2019 (Image Credits: IPLT20.com)

Cut to September 16, and Suresh Raina once again took to Twitter to confirm that he met the officers probing the lynching case to thank them for taking into custody three persons, who were allegedly involved in the crime.

This morning in Punjab,I met the investigating officers who reportedly have napped three criminals. I truly appreciate all their efforts. Our loss can’t be recovered but this will surely prevent further crimes to happen. Thank you @PunjabPoliceInd @capt_amarinder for all the help
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) September 16, 2020

There have been no further updates on Suresh Raina’s relatives, but we, at Sportskeeda, would like to offer our condolences to his family and wish for their speedy recovery.

Suresh Raina, who announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15 this year, is the second-highest run-getter in IPL history. In 193 matches, he has scored 5,368 runs at an average of 33.34.

CSK are definitely feeling Suresh Raina’s absence after losing two of their three games and sitting in seventh position in the IPL 2020 points table.

Check out IPL 2020 schedule