IPL 2020: MS Dhoni leaves Chennai for a short-break as Chennai Super Kings suspend practice sessions due to coronavirus

Chennai, March 15: Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has left Chennai as the franchise's official practice session for the IPL 2020 were suspended in the view of coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

MS Dhoni - who arrived in Chennai on March 1 to join his teammates to prepare for the thirteenth season of the cash-rich league - participated in his last practice session and left the city.

Chennai Super Kings' practice sessions stand suspended from Saturday (March 14) in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The three-time IPL champions had commenced training from March 2 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and Ambati Rayudu getting down to work.

IPL 2020: Sourav Ganguly says the tournament will be a truncated affair

"Chennai Super Kings practice sessions at M A Chidambaram stadium stands suspended from March 14, considering the present COVID-19 situation," Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) secretary RS Ramasaamy said in a press release.

The franchise took to its Twitter handle to share a video of 'Thala' bidding a short adieu to Chepauk.

"It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen," CSK captioned the video in the tweet.

"It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen. 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/XUx3Lw4cpH

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 14, 2020

Fans have always turned out in big numbers at Chepauk to watch their favourite player practice.

The Coronavirus outbreak has forced the postponement of IPL 2020 at least until April 15 and the now the BCCI bigwigs, IPL Governing Council members, teams' representatives are in a huddle to chart out the best way forward. In these tough times, several IPL teams and officials have come up to ways to tackle to the Covid-19, declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said the "first priority is safety" after the board suspended the start of IPL 2020. "Let's stick to the postponement (at the moment). First priority is safety, so we postponed the games," Ganguly said. "We will see what happens. It is too early to answer," said Ganguly when asked if there will be more doubleheaders if they are able to host it from April 15. Asked whether the IPL franchisees are happy, Ganguly said, "Nobody has a choice."