MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh join Chennai Super Kings camp ahead of IPL 2019

MS Dhoni arrived in Chennai on Friday for Chennai Super Kings' title defence starting March 23. Harbhajan Singh and head coach Stephen Fleming also joined the CSK camp in Chennai. CSK will take on RCB in the IPL 2019 opener on Saturday, March 23. Dhoni had flown to Chennai along with his India and CSK teammates, Kedar Jadhav and Shardul Thakur. Dhoni had begun the World Cup year on a high.

Dhoni had begun the World Cup year on a high, smashing three back-to-back half-centuries in India's historic 2-1 ODI series win in Australia in January. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman was rested for the final two ODIs of the recently-concluded five-match series against Australia at home.

Dhoni's absence was felt as India lost the series 3-2 despite having taken a 2-0 lead. In fact, the crowd in Mohali had chanted "Dhoni Dhoni" when young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant missed a few opportunities behind the wicket during the fourth ODI.

Dhoni will be hoping to begin CSK's title defence well when they take on Virat Kohli's RCB on Saturday. Notably, the ticket sales for the IPL opener went on sale earlier today. Thousands of cricket fans in Chennai queued up outside the MA Chidambaram Stadium to get their tickets to what promises to be a cracker of an opening encounter.