The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to organise to five weeks training for the Indian cricketers ahead of IPL 2020. Incidentally, the cricketers have been out of action since the last four months owing to COVID-19 pandemic. However, the big question lies is whether MS Dhoni will be a part of the training camp?
Meanwhile, reports suggest that BCCI has zeroed in on UAE as the host of IPL 2020. After a lot of deliberation on the fate of the cash-rich league, the apex body decided to take the league abroad due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
Will MS Dhoni joins BCCI’s training camp
BCCI is pondering over three places – UAE, Ahmedabad, and Dharamsala to host the training camp. While all the contracted players will turn up, MS Dhoni will not join the training camp. As per reports, only contracted cricketers can attend the camp and Dhoni isn’t a part of the BCCI central contracts 2019-20.
The former India skipper, who hasn’t played any cricket in the last 12 months is unlikely to be a part of the 2021-22 contacts. As a result, technically speaking, it is unlikely that MS Dhoni will not be a part of the training camp.
At present, these are the players who will be a part of the training camp:
| Grade | S.No. | Players |
| A+ | 1 | Mr Virat Kohli |
| 2 | Mr Rohit Sharma | |
| 3 | Mr Jasprit Bumrah | |
| Grade | S.No. | Players |
| A | 1 | Mr Ravichandran Ashwin |
| 2 | Mr Ravindra Jadeja | |
| 3 | Mr Bhuvneshwar Kumar | |
| 4 | Mr Cheteshwar Pujara | |
| 5 | Mr Ajinkya Rahane | |
| 6 | Mr K L Rahul | |
| 7 | Mr Shikhar Dhawan | |
| 8 | Mr Mohd. Shami | |
| 9 | Mr Ishant Sharma | |
| 10 | Mr Kuldeep Yadav | |
| 11 | Mr Rishabh Pant | |
| Grade | S.No. | Players |
| B | 1 | Mr Wriddhiman Saha |
| 2 | Mr Umesh Yadav | |
| 3 | Mr Yuzvendra Chahal | |
| 4 | Mr Hardik Pandya | |
| 5 | Mr Mayank Agarwal | |
| Grade | S.No. | Players |
| C | 1 | Mr Kedar Jadhav |
| 2 | Mr Navdeep Saini | |
| 3 | Mr Deepak Chahar | |
| 4 | Mr Manish Pandey | |
| 5 | Mr Hanuma Vihari | |
| 6 | Mr Shardul Thakur | |
| 7 | Mr Shreyas Iyer | |
| 8 | Mr Washington Sundar |
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni last turned out for India during the semifinal clash against New Zealand during the ICC World Cup 2019. Since then, he has been on a sabbatical. However, Dhoni returned to training ahead of IPL 2020 before BCCI called it off owing to COVID-19 outbreak.
But with ICC T20 World Cup postponed now, the doors have opened for BCCI to host the cash-rich league. IPL 2020 is likely to take place behind closed doors in the UAE in September-October.