Such a star, you'll be missed: Shane Watson's message to Suresh Raina as he exits IPL 2020

Hours after the Chennai Super Kings announced Suresh Raina's withdrawal from the IPL 2020, veteran batsman Shane Watson wished best to the Indian batsman and expressed that his thoughts are with him. Watson, in a video message on Saturday, remarked that Raina will be missed throughout the tournament as he has been the 'star of IPL'. The Chennai franchise announced earlier in the day that Raina has pulled out of the tournament and is heading back to India. 

"I woke up this morning to a really sad news that Suresh Raina is heading back to India for personal reasons. My heart goes out to you Suresh, I hope you are doing okay mate. You are gonna be surely missed at CSK," Watson said in the video.

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Expressing that he has been the 'heartbeat of the team,' Watson added, "You have been here since the start. You are the heart of the team and you are also gonna be missed by IPL tournament as well. You are such a star of the IPL but most important is your well-being and I hope you are gonna be okay." 

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Raina's absence comes as a huge blow to the MS Dhoni-led side as he has been a key player of the franchise. Just a day before, CSK were jolted by the Coronavirus, as 12 members tested positive. The team which was raring to hit the nets, will not have to undergo another week of quarantine.  Recently on August 15, Raina had announced his retirement from international cricket and seemed pretty excited to get back to action which was reflected in his almost regular social media posts.

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IPL 2020 in UAE

The cash-rich tournament, which was earlier postponed, has been moved to the UAE due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India. The tournament is all set to start on September 19 while the final will be played on November 10. The BCCI has already issued an SOP for the tournament and has also allowed COVID-19 replacement during the tournament. Recently, Dream11 acquired the title sponsorship rights for IPL 2020 for a whopping amount of Rs 220 crore after Vivo's exit. This year's edition will also feature COVID replacements that have been allowed by the governing body in view of the pandemic.

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CSK 2020 Full Squad

Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif , Ravindra Jadeja, M Vijay, MS Dhoni, Josh Hazlewood ,Kedar Jadhav, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir , Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Monu Kumar, Shane Watson, Sai Kishore