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Cricketing legend MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad are back in Chennai as the team has begun its preparations for IPL 2026, which is set to start on March 28. The two were seen batting next to each other in the nets, both looking in good touch and timing the ball well.
MS Dhoni, Gaikwad Mirroring
CSK, the five-time IPL champions, kicked off their training camp at the team’s high-performance centre. Several Indian players have already joined the camp, including Ayush Mhatre, Mukesh Choudhary, Rahul Chahar, Urvil Patel, Ramakrishna Ghosh and Sarfaraz Khan. The franchise shared videos from the session, showing Dhoni and Gaikwad practising side by side as the team stepped up its preparations. Here is the clip.
New recruits Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma were also part of the training drills. In one of the clips, Sarfaraz Khan was seen closely observing Dhoni during his net session, while Gaikwad looked confident and comfortable with his footwork.
Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube are busy with national duties
At the moment, only Indian domestic players are training with the squad. Players who are on national duty will join later. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, who are currently playing in the T20 World Cup, are expected to link up with the team after the tournament ends on March 7. Shreyas Gopal, who recently played in the Ranji Trophy final for Karnataka, will also join the camp soon.
Assistant coaches Sridharan Sriram and Rajiv Kumar and Greg King witnessed the training sessions
For now, the training sessions are being overseen by assistant coaches Sridharan Sriram and Rajiv Kumar, along with strength and conditioning coach Greg King. The overseas players and foreign members of the coaching staff have not yet arrived. Earlier in the day, CSK also unveiled their new jersey for the upcoming season.
When will overseas players join CSK?
However, it is still unclear when the overseas players will join the squad because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. With the situation changing, there is no confirmation yet on their travel plans or the final schedule for IPL 2026. Players involved in the T20 World Cup are expected to join the team once their international duties are completed.
CSK Squad
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Short, Sanju Samson, MS Dhoni, Urvil Patel, Kartik, Shivam Dube, Zak Foulkes, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Aman Khan, Veer, Noor Ahmad, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Nathan Ellis, Matt Henry, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj, and Mukesh Choudhary.
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