CHENNAI: Skipper M S Dhoni and other Indian players of three time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) today left for Dubai after a five-day training session ahead of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah next month.
However, offie Harbhajan Singh was not travelling with the team to Dubai due to personal reasons and would join the squad after two weeks.
Harbhajan also did not attend the training session.
CSK CEO K Viswanathan told UNI that all the players were tested thrice for coronavirus and all of them tested negative following which they left for Dubai by a special aircraft.
Upon reaching Dubai, the CSK players would undergo the mandatory quarantine period, before resuming training ahead of the first match on September 19.
The team led by Dhoni had a brief week-long training when the tournament was earlier scheduled to commence on March 29, but they had to pack up in view of the lockdown introduced to prevent control and spread of coronavirus.
The IPL was subsequently deferred to April 14 and the BCCI said it could not be held in India due to the spread of the pandemic.
After analysing various options, it was decided to hold the event in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) received the formal approval to stage the 2020 edition in the UAE.
The team would be landing early in Dubai to ensure that 14-day quarantine norms were followed before the matches commence on September 19.The final would be held in Dubai on November 10.
CSK, which had finished runner-up on five occasions, has an unique record of qualifying for the play offs in all the editions.(AGENCIES)
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