Harbhajan Singh pulls out of IPL due to personal reasons

Things have gone from bad to worse for IPL 2019 finalists Chennai Super Kings as the club’s premier off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, according to several reports, has told CSK that he won’t partake in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. Harbhajan’s decision comes just a week after another veteran, Suresh Raina, the club’s highest run-getter in the tournament history, also pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons.

It is believed that Harbhajan, too, has opted out of the tournament owing to personal reasons. The 40-year-old, who joined CSK from Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2018, was expected to join the rest of the team in Dubai in the first week of September, but personal reasons have now forced the veteran to pull out of the competition.

Harbhajan is the third big name in under a week to pull out of the competition as, apart from Raina, MI also confirmed that their talisman Lasith Malinga was going to miss the season due to personal reasons. It was also confirmed earlier this week that Australia’s Kane Richardson was also opting out of the tournament due to the expected birth of his first child.

It remains to be seen if Harbhajan’s decision to pull out was fuelled by the Covid-19 situation in the Chennai camp as no less than 13 personnel tested positive for the virus. The good news for the franchise and the tournament, though, is that the rest of the players and the members tested negative, owing to which the team will start training on Friday.