MS Dhoni’s return to the Indian Premier League suffered a setback with the former CSK skipper pushing too hard to get back on the ground and suffering a setback to his calf injury, head coach Stephen Fleming revealed.
Speaking in the post-match press conference after CSK’s loss to the Gujarat Titans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Fleming revealed that Dhoni has tweaked his calf again in his ‘understanding’. “He’s pretty keen,” Fleming said on Dhoni wanting to return.ย
“The calf is a tough one, though, if he takes off and rips the calf again, then he will be gone. So we pushed it early, in the warm-up game, he tweaked it again, it’s my understanding, and since then he has been just working hard to get some movement into it, but there was a setback, so it has taken longer than we thought,” Fleming said after GT’s eight-wicket win over CSK.
Dhoni was initially out for two weeks
Dhoni was initially sidelined for the first two weeks of the IPL. He has been training with the team recently and has been traveling with the squad for their away games, but has not been seen with the team at the ground on match days. “But look, he’s the guide on this one,” Fleming said. “And he’s working hard with the physio and doing all the rehab. We’re just waiting for the word, really. But all I can keep saying, it’s not making light of this, he is progressing and doing everything.”
Gaikwad revealed what happened to Dhoni in pre-season
Meanwhile, a few days ago, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was seen speaking about what happened to Dhoni in the pre-season. “You know, we were playing a practice match. That’s when he snapped his calf and then he wasn’t able to run as comfortably as he wanted to.
“And I think after that, it was just about, he saw some of the youngsters playing in practice games and playing in match simulations where he felt confident enough on them, you know, who are ready, who have that ability to play in the IPL.
“After that, it was just about taking time on his recovery. Slowly, slowly, he is getting there. Never know, maybe next game, maybe after that, but definitely one day for sure.”
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