The Chennai franchise have already begun their preparations for the upcoming season of the Indian T20 League. The franchise announced via their social media that the fans can come to watch the practice sessions at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. A huge crowd of Chennai fans gathered at the stadium to watch their favourite team sweating before the upcoming season. Chennai will play at their home ground for the first time since 2019 and the fans are ready for the action.
Chennai will kickstart the season along with the defending champions Gujarat with an opening match of the season on March 31st at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This is also expected to be the last outing of Chennai skipper MS Dhoni in the Indian T20 League. The franchise will be looking to give Dhoni a perfect farewell by winning the fifth title.
Chennai to win their fifth title?
However, it looks like the franchise have already found the replacement for Dhoni as they roped in Ben Stokes for INR 16.25 crore in the 2023 auction. Stokes is likely to be the skipper of Chennai after Dhoni’s retirement. Apart from that, Chennai also bought Ajinkya Rahane for INR 50 Lakh for the upcoming season.
Chennai will be looking to change there after a disastrous season in 2022 where they finished in the ninth position at the points table by winning only four out of their 14 league matches. Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as the skipper last season after Dhoni decided to step down before the start of the season. However, Dhoni had to take the charge again after a series of losses under Jadeja in the first half of the season.
Chennai squad for Indian T20 League:
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Sisanda Magala.
Thala Dhoni effect ???? pic.twitter.com/0dDhRMYjir
— Cricket Crazy (@CrazyinCricket) March 27, 2023
Free food bi distribute hoga kya idhar ?
— Amraj Singh?? (@amraj790) March 27, 2023
Hypocrisy of people:
When crowds gathered for RCB unbox event, No one complained about Unemployment.
When CSK fans gathered to see Thala after 4yrs in Chennai, They cry about unemployment.
— Charan (@Venkysam14) March 27, 2023
Oh Great!! Means so many people are roaming freely, so they can gather in quick time… If they had some work on a weekday,it wouldn't be possible…
— KrishnaTej (@WidishThirdMan) March 27, 2023
Yess.. here at the ground the atmosphere is surreal ????????? #Csk #ChennaiSuperKings #MSDhoni? #Chepauk pic.twitter.com/Az6ym0m4OB
— Dinesh???? (@Itz_Dineshh) March 27, 2023
GOAT THING ! pic.twitter.com/wd07xaNmlq
— luci (@luci40662442) March 27, 2023
Fans after announcement: pic.twitter.com/TWV0npUPiH
— Aditi Pandit (@apanditayan) March 27, 2023
