'Life is most important at this point' - Suresh Raina opens up about IPL 2020 and his time with MS Dhoni in the CSK camp

Suresh Raina has been out of international cricket for some time now. He hasn’t played for India since 2018 and the only way he could have made it into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad was through IPL. The left-handed batsman who plays for Chennai Super Kings has a had a great track record for his side over the years.

Due to the coronavirus threat, the tournament might get cancelled. Recently, Raina talked about this in an interview. The 33-year-old has also made a contribution of INR 52 Lakhs to the relief funds of PM and Uttar Pradesh CM.

Asked about the possibility of IPL happening, Raina said that he believes life is more important at this moment. He also said its important to follow guidelines and the tournament can be only played once everything gets sorted.

‘IPL can surely wait’: Suresh Raina

“Life is most important at this point in time. IPL can surely wait. We all need to follow the government guidelines on lockdown else we all face the consequences. When life gets better, we can think about IPL. So many people are dying at the moment, we need to save lives,” Raina said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Raina had training with the CSK camp before the global pandemic got too serious. His captain, MS Dhoni, who has been out of action from international cricket for some time, was also present for the camp. Raina talked about how Dhoni would be practising in the nets.

“It was a nice camp. I was there for two months but then this happened. Got to spend some time with Dhoni. He was batting so well in the nets, he had the hunger of a youngster. In one session, he batted for three hours at a stretch,” Raina revealed.

Talking about his time in quarantine, Raina revealed how he has been spending this time. He says he is trying to understand how there are other things to life than just cricket. “I am relaxing in the lockdown, cooking and spending time with the kids. There is so much more to life than cricket, moments like these make you realise that. With this lockdown, people should realise the importance of being down to earth”, the Uttar Pradesh player said.