It has been almost a year since MS Dhoni last played any form of competitive cricket. The World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand at Old Trafford was his last appearance in Team India colours.
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In a bid to stake claim for a place in the national squad for T20 World Cup, Dhoni was set to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the 13th edition of IPL.
In fact, the veteran wicketkeeper had begun training in the lead up to the IPL 2020, which was scheduled to start on March 29. After taking to the nets at Ranchi, he landed in Chennai in the first week of March and trained extensively with a few of his CSK teammates, including Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu.
However, Dhoni’s plans got jeopardized by the COVID-19 outbreak as the pandemic forced the BCCI to suspend the cash-rich event “until further notice”.
Speaking on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show, Raina on Tuesday (June 2) revealed how the CSK skipper was preparing in a different way for this year's IPL.
"The first few days he took it lightly and just focused on going to the gym, but he was playing the shots beautifully, his fitness level was great and he was not getting tired," Raina said.
"His preparations were different this time. I have played with him over the years, with the national side and IPL, but it was different this time. So I just hope the matches can start quickly, then everyone can see 'Live' how well prepared he is and see what I saw myself in the two months of camp that we had," he added.
The southpaw further stated that Dhoni was batting for long hours in the nets and wasn’t getting tired.
"When someone works hard, then the prayers and blessings find their way to them," said Raina.
"The best thing was, (Ambati) Rayudu, myself, Mahi bhai and Murali (Vijay) were batting in a group and Mahi bhai bats for long hours when he is in Chennai, for about 2 to 4 hours.
"But this time he was just not getting tired of batting. He was doing his gym in the morning, followed by batting for three hours in the evening," he continued.
Suresh Raina also shared his experience of batting with Dhoni.
"For whatever time we have played, my USP has been that MS Dhoni has given me the license to bat freely and he always knew my capability," the left-hander asserted.
"Whatever strengths I have in my game and whenever things were going great for me and if I needed to tweak something, he would also slowly give me a warning and tell me what the results could be if there is a change in the strategy and then he would leave the final call to me.
"He would not try to change anything but he would let you know the outcome, result and how the situation of the team will be. So he is also covering my batting and he is also telling me where the team can be. This allows me to make a compact decision," he concluded.
