Chennai: Chennai Super Kings cricketers are sweating it out ahead of the IPL 2021 which will start from April 9. In a latest video shared by the franchise, captain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and allrounder Sam Curran can be seen fine-tuning their skills in the nest under the watchful gaze of coach Stephen Fleming.

Raina had missed the last season, held in the UAE, citing personal reasons. He had, in fact, flown alongside with his CSK teammates and joined the team bubble there before returning home giving rise to several rumours before clearing the air upon reaching India.

In his absence, CSK endured their worst season in IPL history as the narrowly avoided finishing at the last spot. It was also the first time in their history that the Chennai-based outfit failed to make the knockouts after managing to win six of their 14 matches to finish seventh in the points table.

CSK will start their campaign on April 10 against last-year’s runners-up Delhi Capitals, a team that beat them twice during the 13th season. DC will be led by Rishabh Pant who has been named captain after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to a shoulder injury.

CSK added the likes of England allrounder Moeen Ali, Krishnappa Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara to their squad at the IPL auction held in February. “I think what differentiates CSK from other teams is actually how they structure everything, from the squad they have to the way they do things. They look a very calm franchise that doesn’t panic,” said Moeen on the franchise’s official website.

CSK will play their first five matches of the season at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. This will be the first season where the teams will be playing all their matches at neutral venues, this negating the home advantage.