# Sports

Dhoni was focused on getting ready for IPL: Balaji

The cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) has been pushed back to at least 15 April but there are several reports which claim that the tournament might not happen at all, in view of the pandemic.

SNS | New Delhi | March 30, 2020 6:03 pm

Dhoni was focused on getting ready for IPL: Balaji

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena remains no exception. Almost all international sporting events have either been pushed back or have been cancelled while some were played behind closed doors.

The cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been pushed back to at least 15 April and the chances of the tournament getting cancelled all the more likely after PM Modi announced a 21-day lockdown until the 14th April in India.

Former India skipper MS Dhoni had even started training for the season but a couple of weeks back when the situation started worsening in India and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp was called off, he moved back to his hometown. CSK bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji has now revealed that the former Indian skipper was very intense in the nets and was keen to make a comeback to competitive cricket after a gap of 8 months.

“Dhoni was looking good, fit. He focused on training just like he always does and was as normal as he has always been. He trained like the way he did last year or 2 years ago. There is nothing that changes when it comes to his preparation. His routine, his mindset, everything is the same,” Balaji told indiatoday (via IANS).

“Dhoni was focussed on getting ready for the IPL. He is that kind of a person who always takes it one moment at a time,” he added.

With threats looming over this year’s IPL, speculations concerning MS Dhoni’s future have resurfaced, while some experts like Harsha Bhogle believe that perhaps that is all that the world would see of Dhoni the cricketer, a few others including Dhoni’s former coach believes that he can still play for India.

Dhoni’s last played a competitive match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in which India were knocked out of the tournament after losing to New Zealand in the semi-final.