Chennai Super Kings CEO Kavi Viswanathan quashed reports that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were looking to sign England international Dawid Malan as a replacement for Suresh Raina who has pulled out of IPL 2020 due to personal reasons. Raina returned home from UAE last month and has withdrawn from participating in Indian Premier League 13. Reports have stated that the three-time winners were looking at Malan as a replacement for the IPL and team India veteran for IPL 2020. Viswanathan, however, denied all such reports by stating that the foreign quota in CSK is already full. CSK IPL 2020 Schedule With Date & Timings in IST: Chennai Super Kings Matches of Indian Premier League 13 With Full Timetable, Fixtures in UAE.

Raina had withdrawn from the CSK squad after just a week in the UAE and returned to India due to personal reasons. Although there has no official confirmation if he has completely withdrawn from IPL 2020, many reports have stated that he won’t be participating any further in IPL 2020. The 33-year-old, however, excited many CSK fans with a workout video on his social media pages. CSK Team Profile for IPL 2020: Chennai Super Kings Squad in UAE, Stats & Records and Full List of Players Ahead of Indian Premier League Season 13.

Malan jumped to the top ranking for batsmen in ICC T20I rankings with a wonderful display of batting against Australia in the T20I series. Malan scored 129 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 138.70 in the three-match T20I series against Australia and has been in great form in recent times. Earlier, Shane Watson had also picked the 33-year-old as a possible replacement for Raina in IPL 2020.

Viswanathan, however, denied any replacement for Raina in IPL 2020. “This is news to me as well because our quota of foreign players is already full. So I don’t know how we can have another foreigner in the squad,” Viswanathan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. CSK already have eight foreign players in the team and have to offload a foreign player to sign Malan as Raina’s replacement.

The CSK CEO was also asked about the injury to Dwayne Bravo in CPL final and he stated that there were no injury concerns with any player or plans of any replacements. Bravo didn’t bowl in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final against St Lucia Zouks. His side Trinbago Knight Riders won the final by eight wickets to lift their fourth CPL title.

Raina though wasn’t the only setback for CSK ahead of IPL 2020. Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also pulled out of Indian Premier League 13 ahead of the season due to personal reasons. The 40-year-old stated that he has informed his decision to the CSK board and won’t be part of the CSK team this season.

Meanwhile, pacer Deepak Chahar returned back into the fold after completing his two-week quarantine period. Chahar, along with Ruturaj Gaikwad had tested positive for COVID-19 and had to stay in quarantine for 14 days and clear two tests before rejoining the team. Chennai Super Kings begin their IPL 2020 campaign on the opening day with a match against defending champions Mumbai Indians.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 11, 2020 08:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).