MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant Meet UFC Fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov’s MMA Coach Javier Mendez In Dubai
New Delhi: MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant have become the new fan-favorite duo. From playing Tennis together to celebrating Christmas, both cricketers are often spotted together these days. The duo was once again spotted in Dubai, where they hung out with renowned MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov’s MMA coach Javier Mendez.
Javier Mendez posted his picture with MS Dhoni and Pant from his official Instagram handle and expressed his happiness to meet the two cricketing icons. He captioned the post by writing “Cricket anyone? I have these two with my team @mahi7781 @rishabpant learned from @khabib_nurmagomedov always stack the odds in your favour…Fun time learning about Cricket & didn’t realize they pitch the ball at 100 miles per hours hitting the ground first and matches can last up too 5 days Thank you for the lesson on Cricket @mahi7781.”
Both MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant will be returning to cricketing action with the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings are the defending champions and are coming after winning their 5th IPL title. On the other hand, Pant missed out previous season due to his freak accident.
Recently, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan has confirmed that the CSK captain MS Dhoni is ready to resume training in the next few weeks ahead of the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
“He is doing well now. He has started his rehab and is working in the gym. And, probably in another ten days, he will also start working in the nets,” he said at the sidelines of the launch of the Junior Super Kings inter-school tournament.
“With the season set to start around March 22, we are planning for a camp in Chennai by the first week of March,” Viswanathan added. He was also asked whether the franchise got their preferred picks during the recently concluded IPL 2024 auction.
“We pretty much got all our targets. We were planning for Daryl Mitchell. We thought Mustafizur Rahman would be a good bet at our Chepauk wicket, with the big side boundaries. These were our thoughts, but we were not sure whether we would be able to get them.
“Luckily, it was a good auction for us this time,” Viswanathan said. He also stated why they spent Rs 8.4 crore for uncapped batter Sameer Rizvi. “Sameer Rizvi was a targeted player for many of the franchises. We were probably a bit lucky in getting him. If you look at it, we were trying to get a replacement for Ambati Rayudu. According to us, we didn’t have enough players with that kind of experience to bid for any of them. So, we thought it was better to go in for a youngster who has the promise.”
“I am not saying this just because we have picked him, he will be the next best. But the opportunity is there for that. Last year, we got Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu and Rajvardhan Hangargekar. So, we are also trying to build the team for the future, which will help us in the longer run,” he concluded.