The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans received a positive news after it was confirmed that wicket-keeper batter and former captain MS Dhoni will feature in the IPL 2026 season. But the aggressive right-handed batter is unlikely to play all the 14 matches, as per a PTI report.
However, the report said that CSK’s local fans would likely see him play in almost each of the seven home games.
The decision has been take to manage Dhoni’s workload and the new recruit Sanju Samson is likely to take up the wicket-keeping duties in his absence. Dhoni has carefully managed recurring knee and back concerns in recent years.
The news of Dhoni playing the 2026 season was confirmed by CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan. “He will play, he will play,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told reporters on Sunday.
The franchise got Samson in the squad ahead of the IPL 2026 season. In an official announcement, Sanju was transferred to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a whopping Rs 18 crore, while Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran joined Rajasthan Royals in trades worth Rs 14 crore and Rs 2.4 crore, respectively.
“We are only here for a short period of time. Gave MY everything to this franchise, enjoyed some great cricket, made some lifetime relations, treated everyone in the franchise as my family.. And when its time.. I AM moving On..Shall always be grateful for everything,” Samson wrote.
“We were looking at the fact that at some point, MS will move on. Sanju is an international quality player, and he fills that role very well,” CSK head coach Stephen Fleming had said after the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi.
“Sometimes you can hang on to theories and philosophies because of past success, but we identified that we need to shift,” he added.
Dhoni has led CSK to five IPL trophies. Earlier, he had handed over the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja before the 2022 IPL season but a forgettable run under the left-handed all-rounder forced the franchise to move back to Dhoni. A statement issued by CSK read, “Ravindra Jadeja has decided to relinquish the captaincy to focus and concentrate more on his game and has requested MS Dhoni to lead CSK. MS Dhoni has accepted to lead CSK in the larger interest and to allow Jadeja to focus on his game.”
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