The Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have begun preparations to defend their crown under skipper MS Dhoni already. The IPL 2022 will get underway on March 26 in Mumbai with CSK set to take on last years’ runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders. Dhoni landed in Surat on Wednesday (March 2) for the training camp along side the support staff including former India pacer and CSK assistant coach Laxmipathy Balaji.
According to ESPNcricinfo interaction with CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, the team management decided to start the pre-season camp in Surat in order to get used to the conditions. He also confirmed that the camp will start by March 8. The entire IPL season will take place in Mumbai and Pune while Surat is on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
“With the Chennai pitch clay-based, we decided to practise on wickets that will be similar to those in Mumbai and Pune. Also, the travel will be easy,” Viswanathan told ESPNcricinfo.
#THA7A Dharisanam!#SingamsInSurat #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/TF2pldRAPl
— Chennai Super Kings - Mask Pdu Whistle Pdu! (@ChennaiIPL) March 2, 2022
According to Viswanathan, the overseas coaching staff led by head coach Stephen Fleming will be arriving around March 12. The IPL 2022 season will be held from March 26-May 29. A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international standard venues in Mumbai and Pune.
Meanwhile, Deepak Chahar – who proved out to be Chennai Super Kings’ costliest buy at IPL 2022 mega auction – is likely to miss the majority of the IPL 2022 season due to an injury, said a report by ESPNCricinfo on Wednesday.
Chahar had sustained a right quadriceps injury while turning out for India in the final T20I against West Indies at Kolkata and was ruled out of the subsequent T20I series against Sri Lanka. The bowling all-rounder has been at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for further management and recovery from the injury.
Group A: Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, and Lucknow Super Giants.
Group B: Chennai Super Kings, Sunrises Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, and Gujarat Titans.
Final list of players purchased by CSK in IPL 2022 auction:
Dwayne Bravo (Rs 4.40 crore), Robin Uthappa ( Rs 2 crore), Ambati Rayudu (Rs 6.75 crore), Deepak Chahar (Rs 14 crore), KM Asif (Rs 20 lakh), Tushar Deshpande (Rs 20 lakh), Shivam Dube (Rs 4 crore), Maheesh Theekshana (Rs 70 lakh), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (Rs 1.50 crore), Simarjeet Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Devon Conway (Rs 1 crore), Dwaine Pretorius (Rs 50 lakh), Mitchell Santner (Rs 1.90 crore), Adam Milne (Rs1.90 crore), Subhranshu Senapati (Rs 20 lakh), Mukesh Choudhary (Rs 20 lakh), Prashant Solanki (Rs 1.20 crore), C Hari Nishaanth (Rs 20 lakh), N Jagadeesan (Rs 20 lakh), Chris Jordan (Rs 3.6 crore), K Bhagath Varma (Rs 20 lakh)
