Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni has confirmed his availability for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, but one thing remains uncertain— Whether or not he will play all the matches.
According to a PTI report, with CSK acquiring Sanju Samson, this means that Dhoni may not play all 14 matches.
“We can confirm this much that he is coming to Chennai and had confirmed his availability for the season,” a top CSK source was quoted as saying by PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“Whether he will play all games or not is something we can’t say at the moment,” the source added.
MS Dhoni’s IPL 2025 season
Because of the Impact Player rule, Dhoni’s role with the bat has been limited. In IPL 2025, Dhoni often walked out to bat very late, and only produced late cameos.
His highest score in the IPL last year were two unbeaten 30s, which he registered against Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Apart from Dhoni, CSK have three other wicketkeepers in Sanju Samson, Urvil Patel and Kartik Sharma.
Samson was traded from Rajasthan Royals (RR) to the Chennai Super Kings, with Ravindra Jadeja and England’s Sam Curran being traded the other way.
The Jharkhand cricketer, meanwhile, has in the recent past sustained knee and back injuries, most notably after IPL 2023, wherein he led the Yellow Brigade to their fifth title. After that season, Dhoni underwent a successful keyhole surgery in Mumbai.
In May 2024, there were reports that Dhoni had been playing with a muscle tear in his leg. Injuries like these have forced the Chennai Super Kings management to take a cautious approach with Dhoni, who has been retained as an uncapped player for ₹4 crore.
The PTI report adds that the 44-year-old will play a majority of his games at Chepauk, where he has received a warm reception from his fans whenever he walks out to bat.
Barring the IPL 2016 and 2017 seasons when CSK were banned, Dhoni has played every other IPL season for the Yellow Brigade. He has led CSK to five IPL titles, which came in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023.
Since making his IPL debut in 2008, Dhoni has played 272 matches for CSK and has scored 5314 runs. Dhoni has registered 23 fifties for CSK in the IPL.
CSK, which is now being led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, endured a disappointing IPL 2025 campaign after they finished in last place with just eight points from 14 matches. Dhoni, who retook CSK captaincy midway last season due to Gaikwad’s injury, aggregated 196 runs from 14 matches at a strike-rate of 135.17.
