MSD to Be the Benchmark for Young Cricketers

The former Indian captain and the current Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni still remains to be the benchmark for other players where fitness is concerned, even after 14 years of his arrival to the international scene.

Cricket news: Dhoni is still the fittest player, says Ramji Srinivasan

Dhoni’s fitness has been the talk of the town for the last two months as the CSK captain led his team to a third title win.

The former physical trainer of Team India, Ramji Srinivasan, was invited to the CSK camp two weeks before the start of the tournament to conduct a fitness camp as the franchise was a classic mixture of cricketers from various age groups.

There the Chennai-based trainer said that, “MS is still the fittest of them all in the Team India ranks. Dhoni once again led by example”.

Ramji’s fitness certificate came at such a time when 40-odd cricketers would be undergoing the fitness test starting from the first week of June in Bangalore. “Between the 5th and the 10th, fitness tests alone will be the priority,” say BCCI sources.

BCCI had previously announced different squads for India and India ‘A’ on May 8 for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan, Ireland-England tour, India ‘A’ one-dayers against England Lions and four-day matches against West Indies ‘A’.

BCCI has also decided that apart for the mandatory yo-yo tests, DEXA scans for dual-energy absorptiometry will also be conducted.

The DEXA scan is a 10-minutes test that measures total body fat and includes the exact breakdown of bone mass, fat tissue, and muscle in your body.

Where fitness is concerned, 36-year-old Dhoni is surely going to be the benchmark for the young cricketers. “Look at the shape he’s in, considering he’s not playing round the year. Extremely impressive. He’s the one from who the rest should be seeking inspiration,” concluded Ramji.