Hearts were left broken at Chepauk after it was confirmed that their “Thala” MS Dhoni will not feature in the final home game of Chennai Super Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday, May 18. Dhoni travelled with the team to the stadium but remains unfit to take the field.
Dhoni has not played a single game this season following a calf injury sustained before the start of the campaign. The injury has significantly limited his involvement in matchday squads, although he has remained closely connected with the team setup throughout the campaign.
“The good news is he’s still here. But he’s not fit enough to play this game. Hopefully we’ll win this one and you never know, maybe in the last game,” captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said at the toss, quashing rumours of Dhoni’s retirement with a possible return in final league game.
Toss update from Chennai @ChennaiIPL won the toss and elected to bat first against @Sunrisers
Updates https://t.co/4SxAzYKEvY#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/u4gjxRo6HK— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2026
This comes following Dhoni’s involvement in the side’s training prior to the SRH clash. The session had once again raised hopes among fans of seeing him at Chepauk, which could have potentially been his last appearance in front of his home crowd in his legendary IPL career. Dhoni has been training with the CSK squad, taking part in controlled net sessions and fitness work.
Dhoni has continued to travel with the squad for the matches whilst not featuring in any game. However, he has not travelled with the team for most away fixtures and has not been present at stadiums during matches, a pattern that has fuelled further speculation about his availability and long-term future in the IPL.
The match against SRH is a must-win encounter for both sides as they look to secure a place in the playoffs. CSK have made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Akeal Hosein for Gurjapneet Singh, while SRH have named an unchanged side from their previous game.
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Spencer Johnson
Impact Subs:Mukesh Choudhary, Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Gurjapneet Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge
Impact Subs: Travis Head, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel
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Source: India Today
