Chennai Super Kings' captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has begun practice for the 2023 Indian Premier League. On Friday, the official Twitter account of the franchise shared a short video of Dhoni taking part in practice session ahead of the season, as he batted in the nets. The CSK skipper played a couple of drives in the video, as fans cheered at the return of Dhoni in action on the social media platform.
Dhoni is expected to lead the Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming edition of the tournament; he had left the captaincy role ahead of the previous season but took over the charge mid-way through the season again. Dhoni had handed the captaincy to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, but a series of inconsistent results forced a return of the wicketkeeper-batter as the CSK skipper.
“Our Friyay feeling is surely unmatched!” CSK wrote as they shared the video of Dhoni's batting in the nets.
Watch:
Here's how fans reacted:
{{/usCountry}}Here's how fans reacted:
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Dhoni was welcomed with a shower of flowers upon his arrival at the Chennai airport earlier this week. A number of fans were also seen trying to take a picture with the former India captain.
Dhoni had captained the CSK to four Indian Premier League titles so far; the side had won the 2021 edition of the tournament under Dhoni's leadership, as the Super Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. In the previous season, however, CSK endured a disappointing outing as the franchise finished a dismal ninth in the league, with four wins in 14 matches.
Ahead of the 2023 edition, the Super Kings bolstered their squad with a number of big-ticket players including England's Ben Stokes, New Zealand's Kylie Jamieson and India's batting stalwart Ajinkya Rahane, among others. Stokes is widely speculated to take over the captaincy from Dhoni once the latter decides to step down from the role.