CSK banks on overseas trio

During one of the training sessions, a few eagle-eyed followers spotted South Africa fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, who has been roped in by CSK as a net bowler for the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Apart from Viljoen, Super Kings has acquired the services of young Afghans Fazalhaq Farooqi and Noor Ahmad.

While Farooqi, 20, is a left-arm pacer, 16-year-old Noor is a left-arm chinaman bowler. Viljoen, brother-in-law of CSK batsman Faf du Plessis, has been with the team since the beginning of the preparatory camp in Chennai. Fellow fast bowler Farooqi, who made the trip on March 24, joined the Super Kings squad in its new base Mumbai.

Teenager Noor is likely to arrive in a couple of days. While the franchise has made no official announcement regarding the overseas net bowlers, CSK chief executive KS Viswanathan told DT Next that the trio was drafted in to add value to the practice sessions. “We wanted to bring quality to the net-bowling attack. That is why we decided to bring some of the quick bowlers who were available. I think that every team has got a few foreign bowlers to bring more quality to the net sessions,” said Viswanathan.

Asked if the overseas recruits would stay for the entire season, Viswanathan responded: “That depends on the views of captain MS Dhoni and the coaches.” With the exception of the triumvirate, CSK has added as many as 12 domestic net bowlers to its contingent for IPL 2021, which is set to begin in Chennai on April 9.

“Most of the first-class players are unavailable. However, we have picked net bowlers from different states, who did well in domestic tournaments like the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Our talent scouts spotted them. We have a few Tamil Nadu bowlers in the mix as well,” explained Viswanathan.

Meanwhile, Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina completed the mandatory quarantine at the team hotel in Mumbai and linked up with his teammates on Tuesday. Raina, an all-time IPL great, had given the previous season in the UAE a miss due to personal reasons.