CHENNAI: He might have retired from all formats for India long back but he still carries the same weight whenever he steps onto the field even if it's just for a two month period for his franchise side. With the Indian Premier League scheduled to begin in less than two months' time, former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni has put any speculation of his retirement to rest as he started training at the JSCA Sports Complex in his hometown Ranchi. Like the previous year, he has acquired a few customised bats from Sareen Sports Industries (SS).
"Dhoni does gym at the JSCA whenever he is in Ranchi. Now, he has started batting in the nets since the last week," former India cricketer Shahbaz Nadeem, who is also the joint secretary of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), told this daily.
Dhoni faced spinners in the nets to begin with and gradually started playing against pacers as well. "We have constructed a transparent indoor net facility adjacent to Oval B Ground at the complex. It has three turf wickets — one made of black soil while the remaining two are made of mixed soils. Dhoni trains there between 12-12:30 PM to 2-2:30 PM," added Nadeem.
Jatin Sareen, chief executive officer of Sareen Sports Industries, confirmed that they have supplied a few SS bats to Dhoni. "Yes, a few bats as per his specifications have been sent to Dhoni," he said. Dhoni reduced the weight of his bat by a few grams ahead of the 2025 IPL. He is expected to go with the same bats this season as well. "Same bats (weighing 1230 grams) have been ordered," added Sareen.
Meanwhile, Nadeem, speaking on the transparent nets, said the structure was erected soon after they took over the JSCA following the elections in May last year. "Other centres have indoor nets but with synthetic wickets. As a player I always felt the need to have a natural turf wicket indoor as well. Bowling on the astro-turf makes bowlers prone to injuries. Similarly batting there is also different. We have used transparent material to build the indoor facility as it allows sunlight. The space was lying vacant there and we decided to use it. Importantly, a pacer can bowl with his full run-up in the nets at the indoor nets here," informed Nadeem.
The former India left-arm orthodox spinner also informed that a red soil pitch will be prepared there and soil for the same will be brought from Mumbai. CSK finished last the previous season with only four wins from 14 league matches. Dhoni might be hoping for a turnaround this year especially with him not getting any younger and every edition being speculated as his last.
