MS Dhoni wasn’t fit enough to play for Chennai Super Kings in their IPL 2026 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Monday. CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad explained at the toss that Dhoni is still with the team, but another injury kept him out of what turned out to be CSK’s final home game of the season. Dhoni hasn’t played at all this season after he strained his calf, and just before this match, reports said he picked up a new problem.
At the toss, Gaikwad said, “We’re batting first. The pitch looks dry and we want to set a big score. The last match against Mumbai wasn’t easy to bat on, so we’re keeping things straightforward. Nothing complicated. MS is still here but not fit enough to play tonight.”
Gaikwad won the toss and chose to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. CSK made a single change for the match—Akeal Hosein came in for Gurjapneet Singh.
SRH captain Pat Cummins sounded upbeat before the game. “Yeah, it’s crunch time for us to hopefully qualify. We had a six-day break to get ready. That’s the nature of T20 and the IPL—you’ve got to commit to a style even if it doesn’t always pay off. Our guys have backed themselves well. The mood’s been strong. We know our approach won’t work every game, but it’s exciting. It’s our best style, so we’ll stick with it. We probably would have bowled first, but it’s fine. The team is the same as last time.”
Here’s how the teams lined up:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Spencer Johnson.
