NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings CEO
Kasi Viswanathan
is optimistic MS Dhoni will be fully fit before the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League, stating that their skipper has recovered well after the knee surgery.
The former India skipper underwent an operation on his left knee after leading CSK to a record-equalling fifth IPL title earlier this year.
Viswanathan informed that Dhoni has been undergoing rehab and will hit the nets soon.
"He has recovered well (from his knee injury). He is undergoing his rehab programmes, started training. By the time the next IPL starts, I am sure he will be fit to play," Viswanathan said to ANI.
Earlier, in the IPL this year, Dhoni, in quite a few matches was seen sporting knee strappings and was also seen struggling while running between the wickets.
After the season ended, 42-year-old in June underwent an operation in Mumbai.
Following CSK's record-equalling fifth title, Dhoni had said in the post-match presentation, "If you circumstantially see it is the best time to announce the retirement. The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire. But the hard thing to do is to work hard for nine months and try to play one more IPL season. The body has to hold up. But with the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift for them to play one more season. The way they have shown their love and emotion, it is something I need to do for them."
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On the recently held mini-auction in Dubai, Viswanathan said that the team was lucky to have covered all the bases, as per plans.
"Now it is up to the boys to do well on the field," said Viswanathan.
The CSK CEO also said that the IPL camp for the next season will start by the first week of March next year.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) IPL 2024 squad: Ajay Mandal, Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway*Maheesh Theekshana*, Matheesha Pathirana*, Mitchell Santner*, Moeen Ali*, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shaik Rasheed, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Rachin Ravindra*, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell*, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman* and Avanish Rao Aravelly.
(With inputs from ANI)