The wait for IPL 2021 is almost over. The eagerly awaited T-20 league is going to take place during the next two months starting from tomorrow. Three-time champions Chennai Super Kings will face Delhi Capitals in Mumbai on Saturday. MS Dhoni is going to lead CSK for the 12th season, and there is a possibility that he keeps going on few more years.
Ahead of the start of the new season, CSK chief executive Kasi Viswanathan speaks to The Indian Express about the team’s preparation and MS Dhoni’s future. Speaking about Dhoni’s future Viswanathan said he doesn’t think this is going to be his last year in IPL. However, he did say that it is his opinion rather than what Dhoni is thinking now.
Dhoni played in his final and 350th ODI against New Zealand in July 2019. The charismatic former Indian captain was expected to play in the T-20 World Cup next year, but the pandemic postponed the tournament. Dhoni eventually announced his retirement from international cricket a month before IPL 2020.
Dhoni also struggled with the bat in IPL 2020 as he scored only 200 runs. It was his lowest-scoring season in IPL. He scored more than 400 runs in the previous two seasons and was expected to continue the run of form. There was speculation around his CSK future, but Dhoni confirmed before the final league game that he will be playing in IPL 2021.
CSK fully supported Suresh Raina’s decision to opt-out of IPL 2020
When asked about Raina who abruptly left the CSK camp before the start of the last year’s tournament, Viswanathan said that CSK is like a family and there were no hard feelings with the southpaw’s decision.
Raina has had very little game time coming into the IPL 2021. He played the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. . He didn’t want to play a 50-over tournament (Vijay Hazare Trophy), but he has been training with CSK also for the last ten days. Raina is an integral part of the CSK squad as he brings experience and big match performances. The talented middle-order batsman finds himself second on the list of Most Runs in IPL history having scored 5,368 runs in 193 matches.