The T20 World Cup’s postponement will now set the wheels in motion for the logistics teams of the BCCI and the eight IPL franchises to put their plan for the delayed IPL 2020 in place, with UAE being reported as the most likely venue.
But it’s business as usual for players, who are gradually getting back to training at their respective bases. In Suresh Raina‘s words: “Franchises are doing their work, we are doing ours.”
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stalwart recently hit the ground running in Ghaziabad at his personal training facility, with bowlers of the calibre of Mohammed Shami for pace and Piyush Chawla for leg-spin. But the return to work for Raina started falling in place over a phone-call with wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant.
“I called Rishabh, and he said ‘Raina bhai practice karte hain’ (let’s practice), so he came and we arranged everything,” Raina told Timesofindia.com.
Originally from Muradnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Raina lives in Delhi these days and has been training at a farmhouse in Ghaziabad.
“This is my personal ground here in Ghaziabad. It’s been about 10 days since I started practicing. We have had good practice sessions here,” said Raina, who has been sharing videos of his net sessions with Pant, Shami and Chawla on social media.
It’s being reported that, in all likelihood, the IPL will be held from September 26 to November 8. The road for the BCCI is now a clearer one after the ICC meeting on Monday, where the T20 World Cup postponement was made official. The IPL was postponed indefinitely earlier, before its original start date of March 29, due to COVID-19.
Raina said the players don’t need to bother about when the tournament will happen and instead focus on their training to be in shape for whenever they are called for IPL duty.
“Franchises are doing their work, we are doing ours. ‘Humein jab bola jayega khelne ke liye, hum taiyar hone chahiye’ (we have to be ready whenever asked to play),” said the 33-year-old southpaw, who plays for the three-time IPL champions CSK led by MS Dhoni.
The southpaw said it was high time that the players got back into training mode as it’s important to stay “mentally very strong” to play the most competitive franchise cricket league in the world.
“Have to train. As sportspersons, we all need to be mentally very strong. Like everyone is saying now ‘IPL hone wala hai’ (IPL is around the corner), so we need our preparation, our game back. For that, you need to get going,” Raina, the first Indian batsman to score a century in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, told TimesofIndia.com.
Raina said having spent two months in lockdown at home and without any cricket for many months now, a player would need close to a month’s time in training to be back in top shape.
“Players would need at least 3-4 weeks (of training). If it (IPL) happens say after 20 days or 30 days (from now), a player needs at least 3 to 4 weeks,” said Raina while on his way to training.
“Ab jo ek world ka top bowler hai, usse bhi khel lein (let me train against one of world’s top bowlers),” he said, adding that Shami, who plays for Kings XI Punjab, will join him for the day’s session.
“Abhi do din zara Shami bhai ko khel lein. Bowler se dosti karna zaroori hai batsman ko (let me bat against Shami for a few days. It’s important for a batsman to be friends with a bowler),” he said on a lighter note.
Leaving the final decision on the IPL to the BCCI, Raina, who has played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20 internationals for India, told TimesofIndia.com, “Definitely there is the government, the BCCI, they must be planning so many things. There will be a lot of things to be taken care of (in light of the pandemic).”
However, he is happy that the tournament will not happen in peak-summer months.
“I am excited that whenever it happens now, it will be in good weather. We are going to miss the fans if they aren’t allowed because of the current (coronavirus) situation,” said the World Cup winner.
