Chennai batsman Suresh Raina has broken his silence over the 'prima donna' comments made by his team owner N. Srinivasan following his sudden decision of pulling out of the 13th edition of the Indian T20 League. The southpaw has, in fact, defended Srinivasan, saying that 'a father can scold his child'.
Raina, only a few days after arriving in the UAE for the tournament, decided to leave the camp for personal reasons which led to Srinivasan saying that the player would 'regret his decision and would want to come back.' Raina, on his part, has now cleared the air by saying that the former BCCI president didn't know the exact reason for his departure.
"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 I'm sure a lot of what he said was taken out of context," Raina told Cricbuzz.
"Ek baap apne bacche ko daant sakta hai (a father can scold his son). He didn't know the real reasons for me leaving when he gave those comments.
"Now he's been informed about them and he even sent me a message thereafter. We've chatted about it and both (Chennai) and I just want to get over with it. I'm continuing to train.
"I've been training even while quarantining here. You never know you might see me in the camp there again."
Srinivasan's comments came after reports emerged that Raina had a rift with MS Dhoni and he was struggling to cope with the strict protocols of the bio-bubble. The 33-year-old was said to be unhappy with his hotel room and demanded the same one as captain MS Dhoni. While the Chennai team was quarantined, Raina's room not having proper balconies suddenly took the centre stage.
Reacting to it, the former Indian team batsman said that all these stories are 'fabricated.'
"These are all fabricated stories and anyone who knows me, knows that these are all stories planted by people who don't want me or (Chennai) to succeed," he told NDTV.
Meanwhile, good news came out of the Chennai camp recently as the entire squad - apart from the 13 staff members and two players who had initially tested positive - turned up negative for the first of two global virus tests conducted on Monday.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saad Hussain
