Offie Harbhajan Singh has pulled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) citing personal reasons. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) already troubled by pull out of Suresh Raina & Covid-19 cases in the team has now further plunged into the pool of difficulties after the pull out of 40 year old lead spinner of the team.
It is learnt that CSK team management comprising of team leader MS Dhoni, team coach Stephan Fleming, CEO Kasi Viswanathan and others will have a meeting to “reassess the road ahead”, in terms of seeking a replacement for both Bhajji and Raina.
It is worth noting that CSK is now few players short owing to various reasons –
– Suresh Raina & Harbhajan Singh – Pulled out of IPL 2020 citing personal reasons
– Deepak Chahar & Ruturaj – In Quarantine due to Covid-19 and can’t resume practice till 12th September
“We have still not spoken about calling on any replacement. It is all on team captain and coach to decide and ask for the replacements. Team will act according to their instructions”, said CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan.
IPL 2020 : CSK has enough spin options in their squad, may opt for batting all rounder
Harbhajan joined CSK from Mumbai Indians in 2018 and over the past two seasons he scalped 23 wickets in 24 matches. Especially in 2019 Bhajji had a very strong season for CSK, taking 16 wickets at an economy rate of a little over 7. Overall, Harbhajan is one of the most successful bowlers in the IPL with 150 scalps, only behind Lasith Malinga (170) and Amit Mishra (157).
Will he be missed by CSK ? Team source said – ‘bowler of the caliber of Bhajji will surely be missed but we have enough firepower in our squad to fight exigencies’
The three-time IPL champions still have Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Piyush Chawla and Karn Sharma as their frontline spinners.
According to the sources, if CSK opts for any replacement for IPL 2020, it will be either a top order batsman or a batting all rounder.
IPL 2020 : MS Dhoni & Chennai Super Kings start training in Dubai
Skipper MS Dhoni and all other Chennai Super Kings players, except for the COVID-19 afflicted duo of Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad, finally hit the nets on Friday after clearing a third round of testing for the virus in Dubai. With Deepak and Ruturaj testing positive last week along with 11 members of the CSK contingent, the team was forced to delay its training plan after completing the six-day quarantine, including three tests, upon arrival on August 21.
The coronavirus-free players returned negative in the additional round of testing on Thursday, clearing their way to start training.
CSK starting off with their training is good news for the IPL 2020 as it means that their marquee opening-round clash against the Mumbai Indians on September 19 “is very much on.
