For most of the pre-match days at Chepauk, Mahendra Singh Dhoni usually enters the ground in the latter half of Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) practice session.
On Saturday, though, he walked down the famed staircase of the Wankhede Stadium soon after the batters started a range-hitting streak and had a gentle jog with the team physio Tommy Simsek.
As Dhoni returns to lead the Men in Yellow, he will be expected to sprint to a cameo and give the CSK’s campaign a much-needed boost against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the start of the latter half of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While Dhoni will continue to be in the limelight in the marquee clash between the two most successful IPL teams, both camps will be eager for a convincing win to switch gears.
Both teams have been languishing in the bottom half at the halfway stage. Despite notching a win in their last games, neither outfit appears to be ready to challenge for a place in the playoffs yet.
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The pitch, with Thursday’s strip being a tacky, slow turner, will be in focus. With the adjacent strip that saw a run-feast against Royal Challengers Bengaluru being used, fans can hope for a six-hitting contest.
Karn Sharma, the MI leggie, is all but ruled out after having split his webbing against Sunrisers Hyderabad. MI will thus be banking on Will Jacks’ offspin to stifle yet another left-handed top-order.
CSK will be tempted to field Dewald Brevis, who joined the camp on Saturday, considering his familiarity with the conditions and the desperation for the visiting aide to infuse aggression in its batting order.