IPL 2024: Chahar, Gaikwad among Indian players reach Chennai as CSK’s pre-season camp begins

CHENNAI: Fast-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar and opener Ruturaj Gaikwad are amongst the Indian players who have arrived in the city ahead of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pre-season camp, starting on Saturday, for the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

On Saturday, through its social media accounts, CSK, the five-time IPL winners, announced the arrival of Gaikwad, logistics manager Sanjay Natarajan, high-performance analyst Lakshmi Narayanan, team doctor Dr. Madhu Thottappillil and masseur Khalil Khan in the city, ahead of the start of the pre-season camp at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium.

On Friday, CSK updated about the arrival of Chahar, spinners Prashant Solanki and Nishant Sindhu, pacers Simarjeet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary, all-rounders Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Ajay Mandal, as well as fielding coach Rajiv Kumar and team manager Russell Radhakrishnan.

Chahar has not played any form of competitive cricket since December last year when he pulled out of India’s home T20I series against Australia midway and subsequent series in the shortest format in South Africa due to his father’s illness.

Gaikwad had returned to competitive cricket via Maharashtra’s final Ranji Trophy match against Services on February 16, where he made scores of 96 and four not out. The right-handed batter was on the mend after suffering a ring finger injury sustained while fielding in India’s second ODI against South Africa at Gqeberha last year, which also ruled him out of the subsequent Test series against the Proteas.

Skipper M.S Dhoni’s arrival for the pre-season camp is yet to be known as he was spotted with his wife Sakshi in Jamnagar to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.

Chennai Super Kings will open their campaign in IPL 2024 as the defending champions in a high-stakes clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 22 in Chennai and will then take on IPL 2022 winners Gujarat Titans at the same venue on March 26.