IPL 2024: MS Dhoni will start working in the nets soon, says CSK CEO KS Viswanathan

Chennai, Dec 23 (IANS) KS Viswanathan, the CEO of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), said legendary wicketkeeper-batter and skipper MS Dhoni will start working in the nets soon as part of preparation for IPL 2024.

After captaining CSK to IPL 2023, their fifth championship win, Dhoni underwent a left knee surgery in Mumbai after having issues with it during the tournament, especially restricting his movement while running between the wickets. Viswanathan also said CSK may start its preparatory camp in Chennai in the first week of March.

“He is doing well now. He has started his rehab and is working in the gym. And, probably in another ten days, he will also start working in the nets. With the season set to start around March 22, we are planning for a camp in Chennai by the first week of March,” Viswanathan was quoted as saying by Sportstar, on the sidelines of the Junior Super Kings inter-school tournament launch.

In the recent IPL Player Auction, CSK got six players in Shardul Thakur, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman and Aravelly Avanish Rao. “We pretty much got all our targets. We were planning for Daryl Mitchell.”

“We thought Mustafizur Rahman would be a good bet at our Chepauk wicket, with the big side boundaries. These were our thoughts, but we were not sure whether we would be able to get them. Luckily, it was a good auction for us this time,” added Viswanathan.

He further explained that CSK is planning for the future and that meant they snapped Rizvi, who has been scoring runs of late for Uttar Pradesh, for a whopping INR 8.4 crore. “Sameer Rizvi was a targeted player for many of the franchises. We were probably a bit lucky in getting him.”

“If you look at it, we were trying to get a replacement for Ambati Rayudu. According to us, we didn’t have enough players with that kind of experience to bid for any of them. So, we thought it was better to go in for a youngster who has the promise.”

“I am not saying this just because we have picked him, he will be the next best. But the opportunity is there for that. Last year, we got Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu and Rajvardhan Hangargekar. So, we are also trying to build the team for the future, which will help us in the longer run,” he concluded.