With the countdown for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League already having begun, each passing day brings along with it fresh updates from various franchises and their star-spangled players. (Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
Here are a few key snippets from the Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals camps as of March 18, in the run-up to Indian Premier League 2025
With the countdown for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League already having begun, each passing day brings along with it fresh updates from various franchises and their star-spangled players. (Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
Here are a few key snippets of the developments as of Tuesday (March 18), in the run-up IPL 2025:
Having completing his recovery from a finger surgery he underwent last month, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has joined his team. The 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, who finished his rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, attended the Royals' first practice session on Monday ahead of the upcoming season.
Samson had suffered the injury after being struck by a bouncer from Jofra Archer during India's five-match T20I series against England. Following the injury, he underwent surgery to treat the damaged finger.
Here's how the Royals welcomed him:
Every single viewer of the IPL is waiting with bated breath to see how the evergreen MS Dhoni fares in the upcoming season. Maintaining the level of fitness required for high-intensity cricket at age 43 cannot be easy, but Chennai Super Kings' beloved MSD shows how it's done. Ask his former teammate Harbhajan Singh.
"I just met him recently at one of our friend's daughter's weddings. He looked very fit, solid. I asked him, 'What you are doing at this age, isn't it tough?' He said, 'Yes, it's difficult, but this is the only thing I like doing. I find joy in it. I want to do it, go out and play,'" Harbhajan told ESPNcricinfo.
He added, "As long as the hunger is there, you will be able to do it. It's hard without playing any cricket (throughout the year). He is showing how it's done. He must be doing something better than the others. He is not just surviving, he is dominating all the bowlers."
Harbhajan also revealed that Dhoni has been batting in the nets for 2-3 hours every single day in Chennai since joining the camp. "The practice that he is doing for one-two months. The more balls you play, you get that timing, flow, and sixes going. He bats 2-3 hours every day in Chennai. He is the first one to come to the ground and the last one to leave, even at this age. That's the difference," he elaborated.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali believes the BCCI banning Harry Brook for two years for his last-minute withdrawal from the IPL was "not harsh". It is the second straight time Delhi Capitals' Brook has pulled out of the top franchise-based league after being bought at the auction.
"It's not (harsh) though, I kinda agree with it," Moeen said on the Beard Before Cricket podcast, when asked whether a two-year ban would be harsh. "A lot of people do that (withdrawing). People have done it in the past, and then they come back in and end up getting a better financial package or whatever it is. It kinda messes up a lot of things as well at the same time," the all-rounder said.
(With PTI inputs)