Picture Credit: Instagram/@chennaiipl
Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is prepping up for the resumption of the Indian Premier League. While most international stars are busy with their international commitments, Dhoni, having announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020, is making the most of his time to prepare for the tournament. In a recent story shared by Chennai Super Kings on their Instagram, Dhoni was seen in the nets prior to the UAE-leg of the competition along with his deputy Suresh Raina.
Notably, the three-time champions did commence their training at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai from Thursday. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians are set to begin their IPL 2021 preparations with the session at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi from Friday. The tournament will resume from September 19 which gives them approximately a month to get used to the conditions and be absolutely ready when the competition is on.
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Earlier Raina, who had announced his retirement from international cricket on the same day as Dhoni, has made a big statement with regards to his IPL career. The left-handed batsman said that if Dhoni doesn't play in the next IPL season, he will also announce his retirement. He made the statement in an interview with a news organisation.
Dhoni enjoys a stellar captaincy record not only with the national team but also in the Yellow jersey, having led to playoffs in each season in which they participated except for 2020. In IPL last year, CSK became the first team to get knocked out of the playoff race. However, they were in good form this year having won five of their seven matches, before COVID-19 breached the bio-bubble and forced the abrupt suspension of IPL 2021.
The tournament has been shifted out of India and Dhoni & Co would look to continue from where they left in India adding a few more wins to sneak a place in the final four before planning the way ahead. Dhoni would also look to contribute with the bat where his recent returns have been a pale shadow of his glorious past and potential.