Former India captain MS Dhoni and some of his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teammates arrived in Chennai on Friday (August 14) for a training camp ahead of the commencement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Apart from the Ranchi superstar, others who have reached ‘The Detroit of India’ for the training camp which kicked off on Saturday (August 15) at the MA Chidambaram stadium were CSK’s backbone Suresh Raina, aspiring talent Deepak Chahar, new member Piyush Chawla and Kedar Jadhav.
“Thirteen or 14 of the 16 Indian players will be part of the camp, including MS. Since they came after undergoing COVID-19 tests, their next test will be 72 hours before leaving for the UAE on August 21. They will start training from tomorrow,” a CSK official had said.
CSK who have won the IPL title for three times posted pictures of Dhoni and other players arriving in Chennai on their official Twitter handle.
Thala Dharisanam Reloaded! 😍🦁💛#WhistlePodu #StartTheWhistles pic.twitter.com/Muk7MQyN85
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 14, 2020
The Masketeers! #StartTheWhistles #WhistlePodu 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/EP6Ww554S5
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 14, 2020
However, IPL’s most talked about franchise will not have some of its star Indian players joining the preparatory camp. These players are all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and medium-pacer Shardul Thakur.
As per the sources, the trio has decided to skip the camp for personal reasons, but they will join the team on the flight to Dubai on August 21.
“Harbhajan and Thakur had a few personal commitments, and we understand that. However, they have already started training on their own. So we aren’t worried about them missing our camp. They are expected to join the squad by August 19,” the source informed.
As per the SOPs issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), all the players would be subjected to two COVID-19 tests, and if they return negative, only then they would be allowed to fly to Dubai.
Earlier, the Dhoni-led CSK had organised a camp in the first month of March ahead of the initial date of IPL (March 29).
The 13th edition of the lucrative league will be played for 53 days, from September 19 to November 10. All the matches will take place across three venues — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.
