Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, all eyes are on the legendary MS Dhoni, who led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a record-equalling fifth IPL title last year.
During the IPL 2023 campaign, Dhoni struggled right through the tournament with a knee injury and speculations were rife that it could well be his last season.
However, Dhoni vowed to return in 2024 fitness-permitting after lifting the coveted trophy. In fact, he underwent surgery to treat his troubling knee soon after the triumphant campaign and has made a good recovery so far.
With barely a month remaining for the IPL 2024, Dhoni has resumed training. Recently, a picture went viral on social media, in which the CSK skipper was seen sweating it out in the nets with a 'Prime Sports' sticker on his bat.
It was later revealed that Prime Sports is a shop selling sporting good, owned by Dhoni’s childhood friend Paramjit Singh. As seen in Dhoni’s biopic, Paramjit had a big influence in Dhoni's early cricket career, which helped him shape his future.
As Dhoni’s net session set the social media into a frenzy, Australia great Adam Gilchrist also reacted on his new bat sticker during the second T20I between Australia and West Indies at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday (February 11).
The discussion about Dhoni began when former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey mentioned the possible start of IPL 2024.
"Got to reach India 10 days before the tournament starts. March, maybe 11th of March we are heading off. Looking forward to it. Great tournament, really is. Best players from all around the world. Best Indian players playing… it's incredible. The crowds are unbelievable, the noise they make. The atmosphere in the ground. And MS Dhoni is back. He's hitting balls in the nets already I reckon," Hussey, who is the batting coach of CSK, said on-air.
And that's when Gilchrist brought up the bat sticker topic. "I saw him hitting some balls in the nets, MS Dhoni. There's a new bat sticker on his bat. Just a local sports store of one of his schoolmates. Whack the company name on your bat just to give a boost to sales," he said.
Here’s the video:
