It is reported by Gulf News that MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings unit can arrive early in the United Arab Emirates for the 13th season of the Indian Premier League 2020. CSK, three-times IPL champions, are expected to reach UAE in the second week of August as compared to the other seven franchises which will reach in the third week.
This will give more time to the CSK unit to get used to the conditions and prepare themselves better for the lucrative T20 league. Meanwhile, IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel announced that the IPL will begin from 19 September and the final will be played on November 8.
MS Dhoni will be back in action after 14 months
The BCCI has also asked for the permission of the Indian government to stage the IPL in the UAE and Patel is confident of getting a green nod from the authorities. Most of the teams are expected to reach UAE before 20 August.
Meanwhile, the ICC academy will be used for the training sessions of all the eight franchises whereas Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah are the three main venues for the IPL.
On the other hand, all eyes will be on CSK captain MS Dhoni. The legendary wicket-keeper batsman had last played in the Indian colors back in the semi-final loss of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand. Dhoni has not played any professional cricket since then.
However, CSK players like Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla had revealed that Dhoni was looking in ominous form in the training sessions which were held at Chepauk before the lockdown.
Dhoni would look to hit the ground running and many of the cricket boffins reckon that Dhoni’s future in the national team depends on his performance in the IPL. However, it is unlikely that Dhoni would play in the Blue jersey but he would continue to play for the CSK.