'Dhoni goes to the gym in the morning, bats for 3 hrs in the evening'

Picture Courtesy/ Suresh Raina's Instagram

India's all-rounder and Chennai Super Kings player Suresh Raina spoke about skipper MS Dhoni's preparations during Chennai Super Kings on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, "The best thing was, Rayudu, myself, Mahi bhai and Murali were batting in a group and Mahi bhai bats for long hours when he is in Chennai - for about 2-4 hours. But this time he was just not getting tired of batting. He was doing his gym in the morning, followed by batting for 3 hours in the evening. When you spend the day at the nets, from gym workouts to fielding workouts to batting then the next morning it leads to some stiffness in the body. We are that stage when the body has become a little slower and you have to put in the extra effort and work for 5 hours for a 3-hour training so that you can play a 4-hour match without getting tired."

Just a day ago, Suresh Raina shared a funny and candid moment with MS Dhoni on Instagram and simply wrote, "To moments that matter #throwback." See the post below.

Suresh Raina then spoke about MS Dhoni's preparations for this year's IPL during camp, "The first few days he took it lightly and just focused on going to the gym but he was playing the shots beautifully and his fitness level was great and he was not getting tired. We used to have a gym session from 9:00 AM or 9:30 AM, a pool session in the afternoon and we would leave by 5 PM after coming in the morning. His preparations were different this time, I have played with him over the years with the national side and IPL but it was different this time. So I just hope the matches can start quickly then everyone can see how well prepared he is and see what I saw myself LIVE in the two months of camp that we had. When someone works hard, then the prayers and blessings find their way to them."

Suresh Raina also went on to talk about what makes batting with MS Dhoni special, "For whatever time we have played, my USP has been that MS Dhoni has given me the license to bat freely and he always knew my capability. Whatever strengths I have in my game and whenever things were going great for me, if I needed to tweak something, he would also slowly give me a warning and tell me what the results could be if there is a change in the strategy and then he would leave the final call to me. He would not try to change anything but he would let you know the outcome/ result and how the situation of the team will be. So, he is also covering my batting and he is also telling me where the team can be. This allows me to make a compact decision."

Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni have been IPL buddies for years. Raina has played a total of 193 matches in IPL since 2008 and scored 5368 runs averaging at 33.34. His best score is 100' and he has 38 fifties.

MS Dhoni, on the other hand, has played 190 matches in IPL since it's inception and scored 4432 runs at an average of 42.20. Dhoni highest score is 84' and he has 23 fifties to his name.

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