IPL 2022: THIS Ireland fast bowler to join MS Dhoni’s CSK as net bowler

Ireland fast bowler Josh Little has been roped in by MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as a net bowler for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. “Congrats to Josh Little who is heading off on a development opportunity with the Chennai Super Kings in the early stages of the upcoming IPL. The experience as a net bowler for CSK should be fantastic,” Cricket Ireland tweeted.

The 22-year-old Little has turned out in 19 ODIs and 34 T20s for Ireland so far. He has picked up 30 and 31 wickets in the ODI and T20 format respectively.

Defending IPL champions CSK have begun their training for the upcoming season at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat on Monday (March 7). In a video shared by Chennai Super Kings (CSK), MS Dhoni can be seen walking with other stars into the stadium for their training session amid fans queuing up on the streets to catch a glimpse of CSK players.

“Those eyes that smile with love give us joy, everywhere we go!” CSK wrote on Twitter while sharing the video of fans cheering the team in Surat.

The likes of captain Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu and KM Asif have been training while bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji was also spotted at the venue during training in photos shared by the franchise.

Congrats to Josh Little who is heading off on a development opportunity with the Chennai Super Kings in the early stages of the upcoming IPL.

The experience as a net bowler for CSK should be fantastic. #GoWellJosh [?] pic.twitter.com/5aUFwfZkAp

— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) March 7, 2022

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday (March 6) had announced the schedule for IPL 2022. A total number of 70 league matches and 4 Playoff games will be played in the duration of 65 days. The 15th season will start on March 26 at the Wankhede stadium with a blockbuster clash between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.

On March 27, the league will stage its first double-header starting off with a Day game at Brabourne where the Delhi Capitals will square off against Mumbai Indians. The DY Patil Stadium will host the clash between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at night.

There will be 12 doubleheaders in total with the first match starting at 3:30 PM IST. All evening matches will start at 7:30 PM IST. The final game of the league stage will be played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings on May 22 at the Wankhede Stadium.

The schedule for the Playoffs and the IPL 2022 final to be played on May 29 will be announced later.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad: MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma.

(with agency inputs)