Raina left IPL after relatives killed in attack at home

NEW DELHI: Former India batsman Suresh Raina told Tuesday how he left preparations for the Indian Premier League tournament after an attack on his family in which an uncle and a cousin died.

Chennai Super Kings cited "personal reasons" when Raina, who retired from international cricket last month, left the team base in Dubai at the weekend.

It has since been revealed that his family was attacked in Punjab state a few days before and Raina said in a series of Twitter comments that the events were "beyond horrible".

"My uncle was slaughtered to death" and a cousin died in hospital on Monday. Raina said his aunt was still "very, very critical" in hospital.

According to Indian police, Raina's 58-year-old uncle, Ashok Kumar, and his family were attacked at night while they slept on the terrace of their house.

Raina demanded a tougher inquiry. "We at least deserve to know who did this heinous act to them," he said.

"Those criminals should not be spared to commit more crimes."

Raina's sudden departure, which coincided with two Chennai players testing positive for coronavirus, sparked rumours that the senior batsman had left because of virus concerns.

Another media story said he was unhappy with his hotel room and the team's industrialist owner N. Srinivasan was quoted as criticising the player.

However Srinivasan said his comments were taken out of context and backed Raina saying his "contribution to CSK is second to none and it is unfortunate that people are trying to put two and two together to drive a wedge."

"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," but as the lead singer in an opera, he told the Times of India.