Mahendra Singh Dhoni will start training for his much-anticipated return to action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) from March 2 amid never-ending speculation on his career, which has been on hold since last year's ODI World Cup. The talismanic Chennai Super Kings captain, who led India to two world titles, will start his training at the MA Chidambaram Stadium along with some other players of the franchise. The 38-year old has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand last year and has maintained a stoic silence on what his next move would be.
He was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players in January.
"Dhoni will train at the M A Chidambaram stadium from March 2. He will practice with players who are available at that time," CSK CEO KS Viswanathan said in Chennai.
"The full camp will begin on 19 March when all the players would have joined the squad," he added. The IPL 2020 begins with CSK taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on March 29. Dhoni is expected to practice for a couple of weeks with the likes of Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu among others.
He would then take a break before returning, a source said.
Raina and Rayudu have been training in Chennai for the past three weeks or so.
A source said it would help the veteran stumper to bond with the new players in the CSK set-up.
Dhoni had commenced training with the Jharkhand team some time back.
The Super Kings' practice sessions in the last two years has attracted thousands of fans and with Dhoni set for an early arrival for preparation, similar numbers can be expected this time around too.
The three-time IPL champions had picked up veteran leggie Piyush Chawla, Australian pacer Josh Hazelwood, England all-rounder Sam Curran and Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore during the players' auction held in December last year.