Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have ramped up their preparations as the 13th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) draws closer. CSK had posted a video clip of captain MS Dhoni hitting a ball out of the park during a practice match on Friday and on Saturday, Dhoni was seen alongside Ravindra Jadeja and two other members of the CSK camp during a training session. Dhoni and Jadeja were padded up and had their batting gloves intact, indicating they had been hitting a few. “Super morning Lions!” is how CSK captioned the picture.
CSK's training was set back by a spate of COVID-19 positive cases in their camp and they had to serve an extended quarantine as a result.
However, one of the two players who were tested positive, Deepak Chahar, has linked back up with the squad after testing negative and serving his quarantine period.
CSK are also missing two of their most experienced players including their most capped player, Suresh Raina, and Harbhajan Singh. Both players pulled out of IPL 2020 due to personal reasons.
CSK could be bolstered soon as star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is likely to link up with the squad in the UAE. Bravo had been playing with Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020, which concluded on Thursday.
CSK will begin their IPL campaign against defending champions and the team that beat them in the final of IPL 2019, Mumbai Indians, on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
The league will be played across three cities in the UAE – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah – and the final will be played on November 10.