After enduring one of the worst seasons in franchise history in 2022, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are focused on making a splash in the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
When the organization’s captain, MS Dhoni, stepped out to bat during a training camp at Chepauk, the coach, Stephen Fleming, remarked about a ‘unexpected’ moment that occurred during the camp. Fleming has been the coach of the franchise since 2009.
What Fleming saw while the team was in training was genuinely remarkable, and this was in spite of the fact that they had not played at their home stadium for the previous couple of seasons.
CSK have started putting in the work to prepare for what may be MS Dhoni’s final season as a player in the organisation. They have done this by roping in a few excellent players from the recently-concluded auction.
Even while there are still around three months left till the beginning of the new campaign, certain players like Dhoni, who are no longer competing in any other format, need to put in more work to match the intensity of the other players.
Fleming talked about his return to Chepauk in a video that was posted by CSK. In the film, he mentioned that over 20,000 fans showed up to see the players, including Dhoni, train.
“The noise is an integral component of it. You think of that in connection with the game. When we got back in and MS came out to bat and there were something like 20,000 fans for our homecoming, it was actually a practise day that really hit home for me.
Simply the enthusiasm and the amount of commotion that was present during the training was something that I had never encountered before. It was really one of a kind, and I know a lot of players as well as a lot of other people who took notice of that, “Fleming is heard saying in the clip.
When asked about his reaction, the former captain of New Zealand acknowledged that seeing the teammates’ enthusiastic response during the training session gave him chills.
“It came as a surprise, which caused the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. It was a wonderful idea to make an effort to have the players practise in that kind of setting. It felt like a proper welcome back to our old stomping grounds “remarked the head coach of the CSK.
As the Indian Premier League (IPL) resumes play in the latter part of this year, the defending champion Chennai Super Kings will be gunning for a fifth consecutive championship when they attempt to defend their title.