Is Suresh Raina required to justify his absence from the IPL? We all are aware of the fact that Suresh Raina has withdrawn himself from this year’s IPL to be held in The UAE because of his fear of the pandemic. He has cited his young family as the reason for his withdrawal. He feels that if something untoward happens to him, what will be the plight of his young family? It absolutely makes sense. He is completely correct in withdrawing himself from IPL because of the affection that he has towards his family. He is well within his rights. It does not make any sense to lose one’s life over a tournament that is nothing more than an entertainment.
He stands to lose certain millions because of his decision and he is perfectly happy with his decision. What bothers me is that, over the last 3 days, ever since Raina announced his decision to withdraw, he is either being vilified for his decision or made to justify constantly about his withdrawal. I really do not understand why the media cannot accept the fact that a player has a perfectly valid reason to not play in the IPL. Yes, he is among the most important player for the Chennai team but that does not mean to keep the focus on him all the time.
Raina’s fears
“When the bio-bubble is not safe how does one take a chance? I have a family with two little kids and elderly parents,” Raina told Outlook. “For me returning to the family was more important.
“It was a tough decision. CSK is also like my family but when the face of my kids surfaced in Dubai and the Covid situation was not looking good, I decided to return.”
Raina feels that he does not want to take a chance by playing the IPL. Thirteen of the CSK players and the support staff were found to be Covid positive. Remember, this time, the contingent is not that huge as with the regular IPL. There are only about 25 persons including the cricketers and the support staff. If 50% of the total number of persons are tested positive, it is only a matter of time before it spreads to everyone. It is only natural for a person with a young family and older parents to be conscious of them. The media and the CSK management will have to understand and must not harbour any grudge or ill-feeling towards Raina. However, based on the reports that are emerging that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Srinivasan’s insult
Srinivasan in particular does not seem to have taken Raina’s decision in the correct spirit. He was in his ungracious best when he commented that Raina is behaving like a ‘prima donna’ which in other words means someone who is extremely self-centred. Srinivasan has also added that someone will behave like this when success goes to their head. Raina’s international performance notwithstanding, has been extremely successful for CSK for more than 10 years and yet for the franchise owner to use derogatory terms against one of his successful player does not speak high of him.
Srinivasan used the same trick that everyone in a similar situation uses that he was misquoted or he didn’t mean it like that. It did not happen like that. Srinivasan is the person who must be ashamed for this outburst and Raina is not even required to feel for it. On the contrary it seems it is Raina who seems to feel guilty for his perfectly legitimate decision.
Raina considers Srinivasan to be a father figure
Raina compared Srinivasan with his father and has said that Srinivasan has all the rights to insult Raina. Come on Raina, have a little bit of honour. Raina, you do not have to bend over backwards to please your master. You could have said something else. You could have kept quiet but to compare Srinivasan to your father is insulting.
“He is like a father figure to me and he’s always stood by me and is close to my heart. He treats me like his younger son and am sure a lot of what he said was taken out of context. Ek baap apne bacche ko daant sakta hai (A father can scold his son),” Raina told Cricbuzz.
Raina might go back to Dubai
It probably is because of pressure and a bit of coercion Raina may go back to Dubai. There is not going to be a major improvement with a pandemic that is still running wild across the world for close to 8 months. How can Raina even think of going back? I could not think of anything else but tremendous pressure. Alright. Now that Raina has decided he will go back to Dubai if the situation improves. We will be right to expect that the CSK management will invite him with open arms but was he? The same Srinivasan seems to be non-committal on whether Raina will be accepted into the CSK fold. He has left it to the captain and the coach because he feels that this is not his area of expertise. He only owns the franchise but not the players.
“Look, please understand, that that’s not my domain at all,” PTI quoted him as saying. “We own a team, we own the franchise but we do not own players. The team is ours but players are not. I don’t own the players.”
Srinivasan does not make sense
The same Srinivasan who had recently admitted that he saved Dhoni from being removed from the captaincy now says that Raina’s inclusion is not within his domain. How ironic and how ridiculous. If he can instruct the BCCI to not replace Dhoni as the captain despite being a honourary president he can certainly instruct the CSK management to include Raina as and when he returns into the CSK fold. This clearly shows that Srinivasan has not accepted Raina leaving Dubai for legitimate reason. Come on Mr. Srinivasan just behave a little bit like a grown up towards Raina who considers you to be a father figure.
Do you think Raina is required to justify his absence from IPL? Do you think his reason is sound enough?