IPL 2020: Fans cheer for MS Dhoni as CSK starts training amid turbulence before start of the tournament

After being on sabbatical for more than a year, the former Indian captain MS Dhoni had announced his retirement from all the formats of international cricket. This was a massive blow for the cricket fans and they are eager to see their favourite player again on the match field in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League which is slated to begin from September 19 across three venues namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

All the eight IPL franchises had reached UAE about two weeks ago and had started their training sessions after serving a mandatory six-day quarantine period and undergoing rounds of COVID-19 tests. However, Chennai Super Kings were jolted as the members of their contingent tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Thus as a precautionary measure the team had to stay in quarantine for another week.

The Yellow Army came out of their quarantine period on Friday and started their practice session for the cash-rich league which is only two weeks away from now. The excitement and thrill of getting a glimpse of Dhoni made his fans assemble outside the ICC Academy in Dubai despite the COVID-19 restrictions in the Emirates.

The 39-year-old’s fans assembled outside the stadium and started cheering seeing the former captain. Nor disappointing his fans, the 39-year-old acknowledged their love and regards by waving back. The clips of this incident soon went viral on social media.

Here take a look at the video:

CSK in trouble ahead of IPL 2020

The Yellow Army has been receiving major setbacks since their arrival in the UAE. First the 13 members of their contingent including two players namely Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad tested positive for the ungodly coronavirus. Adding to the misery their vice-captain and key batsman Suresh Raina announced his departure from the 2020 edition of IPL citing personal reasons.

On Friday, the team suffered from another blow as the veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was expected to join the CSK squad in the first week of September, pulled out his name from the tournament due to some personal reasons.

The team has not named any replacement for Raina and Harbhajan so far. Despite the various hurdles, the three-time champions Super Kings will be looking forward to register the victory in the T20 championship for the fourth time this year under the leadership of MS Dhoni.