CHENNAI: Even though the dates of the IPL are yet to be finalised, Chennai Super Kings have set the ball rolling. A small group of Indian players led by MS Dhoni has begun quarantining at a hotel in Chennai as they plan to start their practice session from March 9. Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu, who arrived in the city on Wednesday, have been joined by uncapped Indian players Ruturaj Gaikwad, N Jagadeesan, Sai Kishore and Hari Nishaanth apart from net bowlers.
The six players are serving a five-day quarantine period and will undergo a couple of Covid-19 tests before being allowed to train at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which will be out of bounds for public. “Since Dhoni is out of match practice, he wanted to start the preparations early and few others have also joined in. Some are arriving next week. But it is only by March 18 that we expect the entire squad to be in place depending on availability,” Kasi Viswanathan, CSK’s chief executive officer said.
Even last season, when the tournament was postponed, Chennai were the first to start preparations. But it proved costly as there were a couple of Covid-19 positives in the camp. It subsequently spread to a dozen who boarded the flight to the UAE as CSK’s campaign started on the wrong foot. In fact, it was a blow from which Chennai never recovered as they failed to make it to the play-offs for the first time in their history. “We will have a test every fifth day.
Once the quarantine period ends, we will have our first training session on March 9 which will be overseen by bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji,” Viswanathan said. Head coach Stephen Fleming and the rest of the support staff are expected to land in Chennai on March 18. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has resumed training at the NCA in Bengaluru will join the team only by April first week after clearning the necessary fitness tests.
Meanwhile, with regards to net bowlers, CSK have decided to widen their boundaries. For this season, apart from local boy M Silambarasan, CSK used their scouts to pick a few of the talents that performed well at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s and Vijay Hazare Trophy. “We wanted to try few players for the future and whoever impressed our scouts have been called up as net bowlers because they will be required throughout the season,” Viswanathan added.