IPL 2020 Breaking: Harbhajan Singh withdraws from the tournament, cites ‘personal reasons’

IPL 2020 Breaking: Harbhajan Singh withdraws from the tournament, cites ‘personal reasons’

Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh pulls out from IPL 2020

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh won’t be a part of the CSK in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. The cricketer confirmed this decision to the team management on Friday. With this, he becomes the second Chennai Super Kings player to withdraw from IPL 2020. Earlier, CSK vice-captain and top-order batsman Suresh Raina also pulled out from the tournament and flew back to India.

Harbhajan wasn’t a part of the CSK team that flew from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was expected to travel later and join the team in the Emirates. Earlier, the 40-year old did not take part in the team camp that was organised in Chennai. And now, citing ‘personal reasons‘ to the Chennai-based franchise, Bhajji has officially withdrawn his name.

Meanwhile, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly revealed that the full schedule of IPL 2020 will be released on September 4 (Friday). The IPL 2020 is scheduled to be held in UAE between September 19 and November 10, but the full calendar is not released yet.

“We understand schedules are getting delayed. It is almost on the verge of getting finalised and should be released latest by Friday,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by ABP news.

Also Read | IPL 2020: All Chennai Super Kings members test negative for COVID-19, will start training from September 4

Chennai Super Kings players test negative for COVID-19

MI-CSk might lock horns in season opener of IPL 2020

Amidst Harbhajan’s withdrawal, delightful news comes from the Chennai camp as all their team members have tested negative for the coronavirus. A few days ago, all these members underwent their first test where they showed negative results too. Barring 13 members, CSK team will begin with their training on September 5, 2020. These 13 members included two crucial players as well: Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

It was expected that the opening encounter of the IPL 2020 will take place between last season’s champions Mumbai Indians and runners up Chennai Super Kings. Earlier, things went out of control with 13 members of the CSK camp showed positive results for COVID-19. There was speculation that CSK might not play the opener, although CSK CEO KS Viswanathan said the team would be ready to play the opener if required.

Also Read | IPL 2020: Chennai Super Kings players test negative for COVID-19, might play season opener against Mumbai Indians