IPL 2020 | MS Dhoni ‘super fit’ ahead of IPL, reveals Lakshmipathy Balaji
Chennai Super Kings’ bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji has attested that MS Dhoni, who has been training at the Chepauk since the start of the month, is fit and raring to go ahead of the IPL. Balaji further revealed that this is the longest pre-season Dhoni has ever had ahead of the tournament.
We are 20 days away from the commencement of the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but more than the cricket that will be on display, fans and even players around the world have been waiting eagerly for a completely different reason altogether - the return of MS Dhoni. This edition of the IPL will foresee the return of Dhoni, whose last appearance in any kind of professional cricket was in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup in July, and thus, unsurprisingly, there is plenty of buzz surrounding it.
The 38-year-old, in an attempt to get back to match fitness and regime, has been training at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and last week, the CSK franchise uploaded a video of tens of thousands of fans turning up to the stadium and going berserk over just watching the former skipper train.
All this indicates towards Dhoni whole-heartedly immersing himself in the upcoming edition of the tournament and one person who believes the same is CSK’s bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji. The former Indian pacer revealed that this is, by far, the longest pre-season Dhoni has had ahead of an IPL season and attested that the 38-year-old is ‘super fit’ to delve into the action right away.
“Till last year, Dhoni always landed with a few days to go and a week's practice was enough for him. But this time, it's a proper pre-season and he is going flat out in practice. And make no mistake, he is super fit," Balaji told Times of India.
The pre-season preparatory camp that Dhoni is a part of also includes youngsters like R Sai Kishore and Monu Singh amongst seniors like Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay and Balaji believes that the camp is doing wonders for the youngsters, with it giving them the golden opportunity to spend more time with the great man.
Balaji feels that the camp provides a much less sophisticated environment for the younger players to interact with someone like a Dhoni and feed off his knowledge.
"With Dhoni here, the atmosphere is fantastic. The younger players, who may find it difficult to pick Dhoni's brain during the IPL, are finding it easier now to interact with him and learn more.”
CSK’s 2019 season ended in a heartbreak, with them losing the final to Mumbai Indians, but they’ll have the opportunity to extract revenge when they take on the Rohit Sharma-led side in the inaugural match of this season on March 29.
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