Another big blow of Chennai Super Kings as veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has pulled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 owing to personal reasons. With this, the 40-year-old became the second player from CSK camp to withdraw his name from the T20 tournament after Suresh Raina. Harbhajan didn't join his teammates when other CSK players took flight for UAE on August 21. Also, the four-time IPL winner wasn't the part of CSK's five-day conditioning camp which took place in Chennai which gave a hint that the legendary bowler might skip IPL 2020. Suresh Raina Finally Opens Up on His Decision to Pull Out of IPL 2020.

Though an official statement is yet to come, NDTV reported that Harbhajan conveyed his decision to the CSK officials on Friday (September 4). Earlier, ANI also reported that Harbhajan is not likely to play the much-awaited tournament and the team should be ready for the scenario. "He has not sent in any official communication, and that is expected by today evening or tomorrow. But the team management has been told to prepare for the scenario wherein they may miss his services," ANI had quoted the source as per saying.

Last week, 13 CSK members were tested positive for Coronavirus which certainly raised a lot of questions over the tournament. Though all the members were eventually tested negative but it certainly created a doubt in players' mind. Even Raina had admitted that he was afraid of contracting the virus. “It was a personal decision and I had to come back for my family. There was something that needed to be addressed immediately on the home front,” Raina had said in an chat with Cricbuzz.

IPL 2020 is set to get underway on September 19 in UAE. With both Raina and Harbhajan pulling out, the MS Dhoni-led team certainly need to do a lot of work on their playing combination and strategy to stay in the title hunt. Their campaign will go underway with the opening match against defending champions Mumbai Indians.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2020 02:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).