With a couple of weeks left for the twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League, defending champions Chennai Super Kings are set to kickstart their full-fledged preparations. It is scheduled to begin from March 16 at the MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai.
Meanwhile, the domestic players in the CSK took part in a preparatory camp which began with a fitness session on Wednesday. The rest of the players, including those busy with national commitments, would join the squad on March 16, the official said.
Leg-spinner Karn Sharma, Tamil Nadu's wicketkeeper-batsman N Jagadeesan, K M Asif and Chaitanya Bishnoi, among others, took part in today's session.
“It feels great to be in Chennai. Last year we only played one match, so very excited to be playing more matches here this time around. I'm really looking forward to it,” said the leg-spinner.
Sharma said it would be good to have a preparatory camp as it helps the team gel better.
“Given that we have players from different cities and countries, a preparatory camp helps the team gel better as a unit, allows players to know and understand each other better, each other's styles better," he added.
The three-time defending champion, led by Dhoni, will open its campaign against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chepauk here on March 23.
With the India-Australia ODI series set to end on March 13 and the super league phase of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy set to conclude on March 14, the players would begin arriving subsequently.
The CSK players would have a week to train before the IPL-12 opener here. Several of the team's players are busy with national and domestic commitments at present. The Chennai franchise, which returned to the IPL fold in 2018 after serving a two-year suspension, won the tournament for a third time, beating Sun Risers Hyderabad in the final.