MS Dhoni was not getting tired practising in CSK nets, recalls Suresh Raina

All eyes were on former Indian skipper MS Dhoni when CSK’s camp began in early March. The right-handed batsman had not made an appearance on a cricket field since the infamous exit against New Zealand in the 2019 Cricket World Cup semi-final and thus IPL was widely regarded as the veteran's comeback tournament, a competition to get back himself into the national team mix.  

However, the Covid-19 pandemic ended up sabotaging Dhoni's plans and has now ended up delaying the CSK man's comeback, with the whole world unsure about when normalcy will be restored. Fellow CSK teammate, Suresh Raina, who was also a part of CSK's training camp earlier this year, recalled that Dhoni looked sharp in the nets and batted for a prolonged period of time.

“The first few days he took it lightly and just focused on going to the gym but he was playing the shots beautifully and his fitness level was great and he was not getting tired. But this time he was just not getting tired of batting. He was doing his gym in the morning, followed by batting for three hours in the evening,” Raina said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected chat show, reported HT.

“The best thing was, (Ambati) Rayudu, myself, Mahi bhai and Murali (Vijay) were batting in a group and Mahi bhai bats for long hours when he is in Chennai for about 2–4 hours. When someone works hard, then the prayers and blessings find their way to them,” Raina further said.

Raina also compared the 39-year-old’s training session with the other seasons, adding that this season, Dhoni looked hungrier than ever. Raina attested that he is awaiting for normalcy to resume so that the whole world can witness the hungrier and more sharper version of Dhon which he saw in the training camp.

“His preparations were different this time, I have played with him over the years with the national side and IPL getting ready but it was different this time, so I just hope the matches can start quickly then everyone can see how well prepared he is and see what I saw myself LIVE in the two months of camp that we had."