The former India captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and all-rounder Suresh Raina are among Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team which will depart for the UAE on Friday for the approaching Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
Taking to Twitter CSK’s official Twitter handle shared the images of Dhoni, Raina, bowling consultant L Balaji and Ravindra Jadeja and captioned the post, “#Yellove on the move! #WhistlePodu.”
On Independence Day that is 15th August, Dhoni and Raina publicized their retirements from international cricket. Nevertheless, they will linger to serve CSK or any other franchise as long as they want.
Previously, CSK had the six-day long training camp between August 15 and 20 in Chennai which fixated on fitness mostly, along with some cricket training too.
The veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh will not leave for Dubai on Friday with the rest of the team due to personal reasons.
According to an ESPNcricinfo report, he will reach a week or ten days later than the team in the UAE, ahead of the 2020 IPL. The off-spinner will not be in Chennai when the franchise boards its flight after a five-day training camp in the city.
The 40-year-old spinner’s late entrance will make it five players for the CSK who would not be part of the team when it first reaches in the UAE. Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi, who will arrive in early September from South Africa, and Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner and Dwayne Bravo who are playing in the CPL, are the others, ESPNcricinfo reported.
Royal Challengers Bangalore on the other hand, became the fourth franchise after Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab to fly to UAE.
“UAE calling! The Royal Challengers are all set to take-off! Drop a (heart) if you’re happy to see the RCB fam together again!” tweeted RCB from its official handle.
The players will remain in quarantine for six days before starting with their training in the UAE. All cricketers and support staffs will go through five-round of testing divided through periodic days before entering the bio-bubble in UAE.
Originally planned to begin in March, the 2020 edition of the IPL was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, the 13th edition of the IPL 2020 is set to kick off from September 19 to November 10, across three venues in the UAE — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai. BCCI, however, is yet to announce the full schedule of IPL 2020.
