Piyush Chawla Asserts MS Dhoni Wasn't Rusty At All During CSK Net Practice

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni was all set to unleash himself in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). MS Dhoni had begun his preparations at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai at the beginning of March for the marquee tournament. His teammate Piyush Chawla has asserted that a lengthy absence from international cricket did not matter as the 38-year old looked confident in the nets.

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Earlier, Suresh Raina also wished for the competition to take place this year as the fans would have to wait to witness him. The veteran keeper-batsman has not featured in any competitive cricket since the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in July. He scored a valiant fifty before Martin Guptill ran him out via an outstanding direct hit.

The Kiwis caused a massive upset, beating one of the tournament favourites by 18 runs to reach the semi-final.

MS Dhoni’s international future has remained the topic of debate for a long time. The IPL 2020 was a pathway to stake his claim for a spot in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia planned this year. However, with the tournament postponed indefinitely, the World Cup-winning captain’s international future remains further in doubt. Its initial commencing date was the 29th of March.

“MS Dhoni didn’t look rusty at all” : Piyush Chawla

Piyush Chawla, who was to play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the first time, remained confident that MS Dhoni didn’t look scratchy at all in the nets. The leg-spinner stated that one would assume that a cricketer would look rusty after a long break from cricket; however, that was not the case. Chawla added that he played five-six balls and used to breach the fence.

“Honestly speaking, whenever a cricketer makes a comeback after such a long break, people think that he will be a bit rusty. But I am sure he was doing something at Ranchi because when Dhoni landed in the camp, he didn’t look rusty at all. His routine work was – he played five-six balls and then used to clear the fence,” Chawla stated as quoted by Times Now.

The 31-year old continued by saying that the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, and Murali Vijay also accompanied Dhoni in batting practice. He asserted that each batsman played 200-250 deliveries across approximately three hours.

“He batted for long. In fact, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Dhoni and Murali Vijay….there were limited players in the camp and there were a number of bowlers. So everyone batted for long – 2-2:30 hours every day. Every batsman played 200-250 balls,” he added.

The yellow army bagged the experienced spin-bowler for a hefty price of INR 6.75 crores becoming the costliest Indian pick in the 2020 IPL. The Uttar Pradesh-born has played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, bagging 150 wickets in 157 games. Mumbai Indians are the currently the defending champions, having won their fourth title last year by beating Chennai.

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