IPL 2020 can wait as life is most important now, says Suresh Raina

Veteran Indian batsman Suresh Raina reckons Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 can wait till the situation surrounding COVID-19 pandemic completely settles down. The stylish southpaw, who has already done his bit to help the Indian government combat the dreaded virus, said ‘life is most important at this point of time’.

Raina, who has been one of the faces of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, said that the top-most priority, right now, has to be saving the lives of people who are suffering and dying from the deadly COVID-19 virus while adding that everyone needs to adhere to Indian government’s guidelines on lockdown or else there will be severe consequences.

"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 told PTI.

Raina has been extremely active on social media platforms in a bid to spread awareness on the importance of self-isolation and social distancing during the 21-day lockdown period in India. The southpaw has been trying to be the perfect homemaker as his wife, Priyanka Chaudhary Raina, continues to recover from the birth of their second child, Rio, last week.

"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.

"At this time, three meals-a-day matter much more than the size of your house and car, what you wear doesn't matter. What you and your workers in the house are doing is the same. You are eating and feeding them at the same time.

"I am used to cooking since my hostel days, so I enjoy doing that. Wife (who gave birth to a boy last week) and kid are still recovering, so happy to contribute with the household work,” Raina said.

Raina, who was gearing for his comeback to competitive cricket since playing his last match in the final of IPL 2019, said that the preparatory camp conducted by CSK was ‘nice’ while adding that MS Dhoni was looking really good in the nets and had the hunger of a youngster.

"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," recalled Raina.