MS Dhoni has been out of the game for close to a year now. He last played in the semi-final against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Everyone expected him to retire after the World Cup. However, Dhoni surprised each of them by going on a sabbatical. There were a lot of speculations and reports regarding the uncertainty of his future in the national colours. But, the veteran did not comment regarding this matter. However, he was ready to play for the Chennai Super Kings in this year’s IPL.

CSK arranged for training camp in the first week of March before the start of the IPL 2020. MS Dhoni attended the camp just like the other CSK players. The Chepauk came in huge numbers to watch their Thala bat, just like every other year. MS Dhoni was in a great mood during the practice session. He was smashing huge sixes at will.

Piyush Chawla, the new member of the CSK franchise, recalled the scenes in the training camp. He said that MS Dhoni did not look like he was away from the game for such a long time. Chawla recalls MS Dhoni hitting big sixes in the nets. He believes that Dhoni must have been continuing with his training somewhere at his home town during the sabbatical.

Chawla said while speaking to Aakash Chopra on his official Youtube channel, “Honestly speaking, if any cricketers comes after a long break, he will be rusty, but I am sure, he (MSD) was doing some training in Ranchi because when he came to CSK camp, he did not look rusty at all. He will defend for 5-6 balls in the nets and then smack each and every ball for a six.”

Piyush Chawla, the new member of CSK in IPL 2020 said this about MS Dhoni

Piyush played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last few seasons of the IPL. KKR released him ahead of the IPL 2020 auction. CSK engaged themselves in a bidding war with the Kings XI Punjab and finally got him. The all-rounder signed for a whopping amount of Rs 6.75 crore.

The wrist-spinner was ready to play for CSK in this year’s IPL. He also joined the training camp back in March, though the tournament was postponed since then. The BCCI had to suspend the IPL indefinitely due to the Coronavirus pandemic. There is no confirmation on when the tournament will be held.

What’s the future of the IPL now?

Reports suggest that it could possibly happen at the end of the year. The idea is to have it at a single destination. A single city could host the tournament. The other option seems to be hosting it in Sri Lanka. The country has been doing way better in terms of dealing with the disease, due to various factors.

If things go according to plan, the next edition of the IPL should happen this year. As per the reports coming in, the BCCI is trying to have it at the end of the year. The T20 World Cup is the most likely one to be postponed to next time. It will be quite interesting to see how things develop now.