IPL 2020: MS Dhoni's Text Convinced CSK CEO to Conduct Camp in Chennai

IPL giants CSK recently held a five-day camp at Chennai, something which no other franchise could manage to do in the times of Covid-19. In an interaction with CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, he revealed how the skipper MS Dhoni convinced him to go ahead with the preparatory camp.

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“When we announced the tournament is going to happen, I had reservations about conducting the camp here because the bio-bubble had to be created. In fact sent a message to him (asking) whether it will be worthwhile having a camp for 5 days before going to Dubai. But the captain was crystal clear in his thoughts,” Viswanathan said in a video uploaded on YouTube by CSK.

“He (Dhoni) said ‘sir, we have not played for nearly 4-5 months. All of us need to get together in Chennai. We should be in a bio-bubble in Chennai so that we get used to that when we land in Dubai’.

“And also it helped in the boys getting in shape. This camp, though we had some reservations, has really helped. I am very happy we were able to host the camp.”

Several CSK players attended the camp including Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Deepak Chahar, Ambati Rayudu and Shardul Thakur. The ones to miss out were Harbhajan Singh and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, due to personal reasons. “To get us back into the mix, this is very, very important. Even when we go to Dubai, we have to quarantine for six days. So this is crucial,” Rayudu said in the video.

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“Now everyone is on the same page. No one has played cricket for 5 months. We all are equal. I think we will be better because we have the experience,” Chahar further added.