IPL 2018: Move aside Cristiano Ronaldo – MS Dhoni shows off his footballing skills in CSK training session

With two days to go for the blockbuster showdown between IPL royalties Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, the CSK squad could be seen enjoying a light moment as they kicked a football around.

On a day when Cristiano Ronaldo sent the world into raptures with an jaw-dropping bicycle kick, one of his fans, Mahendra Singh Dhoni also showed what he can do with the ball.

The CSK captain, who was recently awarded the Padma Bhushan could be seen kicking around a ball with Tommy Simsek and Russell. An avid football fan, Dhoni is known to be a Manchester United supporter and loves Ronaldo, and the two even share a jersey number.

He had once said: “I am an avid EPL (English Premier League) fan and I just played out a real situation in front of the camera. If I am not busy with cricket, I am always busy with EPL during week-ends. Football is extremely exciting and very close to my heart. I was a goalkeeper during my school days. Even today, I play football as a warm up game ahead of key cricket matches

CR7 nahi, MS7 bolo. @msdhoni vs @tommysimsek. Aaaand @russcsk pic.twitter.com/5WdZyGi2Nj

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 4, 2018

Dhoni's Goals in celebrity match

Dhoni's two goals in 2017 football celebrity classico match. #2Point0 #kaala #BharatAneNenu #NaaPeruSurya #Rangasthalam #BajrangiBhaijaan #saaho #Raid #race3 #zero #thugsofhindostan #dhoni #Thalapathy62 #Viswasam #Suriya37 #NGK #RRR #NOTA #Padmaavat #GOLD #CSK #October #Baaghi2 pic.twitter.com/BO54cTQmv9

— MS DHONI THE FINISHER (@himatej7) March 31, 2018

Chennai Super Kings are back in the Indian Premier League. The two-time champions will be playing their first match after a two-season ban. They will play their first match on April 7, 2018 against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium.

The team will play seven home matches and seven away matches in the league. Their final game of the league stage will be played in Chennai against Kings XI Punjab on May 20.

MS Dhoni is back leading the side after having played for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the previous two seasons.

Chennai were quick to retain Dhoni along with Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja. However they will miss the services of another regular R Ashwin.

Chennai Super Kings focussed on experience in the IPL acuction- they have picked up veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Imran Tahir and Faf du Plessis among others.

They have also managed to ratain one of their biggest signings- Dwayne Bravo.

They do have some young talents in form of Lungi Ngidi, Sam Billings and Mark Wood from overseas and Jagadeesan Narayan, Deepak Chahar, Asif KM, Dhruv Shorey and Monu Singh from the domestic circuit. However, they have been hit by injury to Mitchell Santner.

Here is the full Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2018:

MS Dhoni (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo. Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Mark Wood, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Lungisani Ngidi, Asif K M, N Jagadeesan, Kanishk Seth, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Kshitiz Sharma, Chaitanya Bishnoi.

Where to watch Chennai Super Kings IPL 2018 matches: 

The IPL 2018 will be telecast on the Star Sports network. The matches will be live streamed on Hotstar.com. 

Where to get Chennai Super Kings IPL 2018 match tickets:

The tickets can be booked online at iplt20.com and www.cskipltickets.in