Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday received a rousing reception at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai during his first training session with Chennai Super Kings ahead of his much-anticipated return to action in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
MS Dhoni, who has not played any cricket after India’s defeat in the semifinals of the World Cup last year, is back in familiar territory. Looking trim and sporting a crew cut, Dhoni waved to the crowd and did some stretching exercises. After exchanging pleasantries with CSK officials and players, he put on a cardio-jacket and did sprint exercises that generally check the heart beat. This training method is usually followed by fast bowlers.
Later, using bats of different weights, he had a session at the centre wicket. Initially, Dhoni looked rusty against some of the local medium-pacers, but he quickly adapted and the shots started flying from the meat of the blade. Be it local bowlers or CSK bowlers like Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla and R Sai Kishore, the ball started soaring into the stands to the delight of fans.
The 38-year-old wicket-keeper batsman, who led India to two world titles, got down to work with some other team members. CSK’s full camp will begin on March 19.
