Chennai, March 22 (IANS) Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) brought together former stars and current squad members at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday for ‘Roar 2026’ event ahead of the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting on March 28.

Ex-CSK batter S Badrinath shared a photo on X showing himself, Ambati Rayudu, Matthew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, Murali Vijay and Lakshmipathy Balaji posing with the franchise’s five IPL trophies and in their previous CSK days jerseys. “O(ldie)G squad,” wrote Badrinath in the post.

The event saw legends like Hussey, Hayden, Bravo and Raina reunite with current players such as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni (who got loudest cheers from the fans), Shivam Dube, and new signing Sanju Samson, who will play his maiden season for CSK after being Player of the Tournament in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup win for India.

There were considerable chants of ‘Sanju, Sanju’ from fans, with his name and number jerseys selling like hot cakes outside the stadium. Clips from the event showed Dhoni sharing laughs with former teammates, especially Raina, Rayudu and Bravo, while Gaikwad was seen bowling to Hussey, who rolled back the years with some fluent strokes.

The current squad also held an open practice session, with players engaging in light drills and football kickabouts, before musical events, including by AR Rahman, took centrestage.

Samson, Dube and U19 World Cup-winning captain Ayush Mhatre were honoured by Dhoni with commemorative plaques, as fans donning yellow jersey got beautiful memories to cherish for a lifetime.

CSK begin their 2026 campaign against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on March 30, followed by fixtures against Punjab Kings on April 3, Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 5 and Delhi Capitals on April 11.

--IANS

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