Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni broke his teammate Suresh Raina’s record to become the most capped player in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL). CSK’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 2 October, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is the former India captain’s 194th appearance in the T20 league. Raina, who earlier held the record with 193 appearances, had made himself unavailable for the ongoing edition in the UAE. After Dhoni achieved the feat, Raina in a tweet, wrote, “Congratulations Mahi bhai at becoming the most capped IPL player. Happiest that my record is being broken by you. All the best for the game today and am sure CSK will win this season’s IPL.” Both Dhoni and Raina had announced their retirement from international cricket on 15 August this year. Soon after Raina pulled out of the IPL, which began on 9 September, citing personal reasons. While the franchise has not named a replacement for him, Raina’s name was removed from the squad list uploaded on their website.
CSK removes Raina’s name from their official website
Fans were eager to see Suresh Raina playing in the IPL ever since he announced his retirement along with Dhoni, last month. But the fans as well as the team of CSK got a severe blow when Raina pulled himself out of the tournament. He had pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons. He had said that if the situation gets better, he might return to the UAE to participate in the IPL 2020. But now, CSK have removed his name from the squad list uploaded on their website. CSK’s CEO Kashi Vishwanathan said, “We cannot look at Raina because he made himself unavailable, and we respect his decision and his space. We are not thinking about it”. He also added, “I can assure the fans that we will bounce back strongly. It’s a game and you have your good and bad days. But the boys know what they need to do and the smiles will be back.” Harbhajan Singh's name was also missing in the CSK squad on the official website.
Robin Uthappa makes a dubious record
Rajasthan Royal’s Robin Uthappa last week surpassed Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli’s unwanted record. Kohli has been part of 90 defeats in the Indian Premier League. On the other hand, Uthappa has witnessed 91 defeats. This record was made when Rajasthan Royals were outperformed by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 12th game of IPL 2020 by 37 runs. Kolkata’s Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik is positioned at third spot on the list of players who have been a part of most number of defeats. Karthik has witnessed 87 losses and he is followed by Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been on the losing side 85 times. During the match against Kolkata, Uthappa also made a mistake which brought him into attention. He seemed to have accidently applied saliva while fielding. This action was in violation of the ICC’s guidelines which bans use of saliva on the ball in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
Messi wants to end feud at Barcelona
After so many disagreements, Lionel Messi wanted to put an end to the arguments at Barcelona and urged unity at the club. Earlier he tried to part ways with the club but finally called off the plan. We must unite all Barcelona's people and assume that the best is yet to come, he said. Messi referred to his attempt to force Barcelona to release him from the final year of his contract after the disastrous end to last season left the club without a trophy. "I take responsibility for my mistakes, that, if they existed, were only to make a better and stronger FC Barcelona," said the Argentine. "I wanted to send a message to all the club members and to all the fans. If any of them is bothered for a second by something I said or did, they should never doubt that I am always thinking about what is best for the club. Adding passion and desire will be the only way to achieve our objectives, always united and pulling in the same direction," said Messi, who criticised the way Barcelona had let Luis Suarez go saying "the truth is nothing surprises me anymore."
