'It wasn’t about the COVID cases’- Harbhajan Singh’s friend reveals the reasons behind the spinner’s pull-out from IPL 2020

Harbhajan Singh became the second player after Suresh Raina to pull out from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) going into the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). The Turbanator has been a part of the Yellow Army since 2018 and stated that he wanted to stay with his family. Harbhajan, who last played international cricket back in 2016, also thanked the CSK management for supporting him.

There were reports that Harbhajan backed out after 13 members of the Super Kings’ contingent, including Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Chahar, were tested positive for COVID-19. However, a friend of the tweaker said that Harbhajan leaving the IPL has nothing to do with the deadly coronavirus.

Harbhajan Singh’s friend opens up

“It wasn’t about the Covid cases in the Chennai camp. But if you have a wife and toddler staying in India for three months, your mind will be diverted and you can’t fully focus on the game. Then it doesn’t matter whether you get two crore or 20 crores. Money is last on your mind,” a friend of the player was quoted as saying in Cricket Next.

“I will not be playing IPL this year due to personal reasons. These are difficult times and I would expect some privacy as I spend time with my family. CSK management has been extremely supportive and I wish them a great IPL Stay safe and Jai Hind,” Harbhajan had said.

Harbhajan is the third-highest wicket-taker in the history of the T20 league with 150 wickets. From 2008 to 2017, he plied his trade for the Mumbai Indians (MI) and played crucial roles in their title glories in 2013 and 2017 respectively. Then in 2018, Harbhajan won the IPL for the Super Kings. He has also been pretty economical.

In 2018, CSK secured the services of the spinner at a price of INR 2 crores. Though Singh won’t be there next time, the Super Kings have quite a few spinners in their ranks in the form of Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner, Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja. The pitches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also being expect to assist the slow bowlers to a large extent.