Former BCCI president and current Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan has clarified his ‘prima donna’ comment on star batsman Suresh Raina which the former opined was ‘taken out of context’.
On Saturday (August 29), Raina returned home from Dubai, hence making himself unavailable for the whole IPL 2020 citing ‘personal reasons’. There were several media reports that Raina made a sudden exit from the tournament due to an attack on his relatives in Pathankot. Meanwhile, PTI reported that the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the CSK camp might have been the reason.
But on Sunday, the Outlook magazine was reported saying that a hotel room rift was the reason, after which even MS Dhoni failed to pacify his deputy, and Srinivasan was left shell-shocked over Raina’s departure.
Clarifying his remarks, Srinivasan, while speaking to TOI, said: “His (Raina’s) contribution to the CSK franchise has been phenomenal through the years.”
He is also of the firm view that “it is important to understand what Suresh is going through right now and give him space”.
Srinivasan lavish praises on Raina
Raina has been a crucial member for the Super Kings in their 10 years of IPL history where they won three titles.
Raina, who is the leading run-scorer for the franchise, has amassed 5368 runs in 189 innings with 38 half-centuries and a ton at a phenomenal strike rate of 137.14. In fact, the southpaw also happens to be the most capped player in IPL with 193 matches, three ahead of Dhoni, and all predominantly for CSK – barring the two years he played for the Gujarat Lions.
Praising Rain’s contribution as a player, Srinivasan further said: “The franchise will always stand by him and he has our complete support during these times of distress.”
The CSK boss then clarified his “prima donna” comment saying, “These boys, they’re family. They’ve been family for over a decade now. When I said ‘cricketers are like prima donnas’, it wasn’t in a negative sense. A prima donna is a lead singer in an opera. Similarly, cricketers are always at the forefront of an exercise like this.”