Dhoni stays in Chennai for calf rehab as CSK travel to Delhi without him
MS Dhoni did not board the Chennai Super Kings flight to New Delhi on Monday and will not be at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when his side meet Delhi Capitals on Tuesday night, with bowling coach Eric Simons confirming the wicketkeeper-batter is still working through the calf strain he picked up before IPL 2026 began.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai before the squad flew out, Simons batted away suggestions that a return was imminent. "An update on MS Dhoni is way above my pay grade," he said. "He is not with us but steadily improving. He will be ready when he is ready and he knows when he is ready to play. No, he hasn't travelled with the team."
A pre-season strain that has stretched into match nine
The injury dates back to the franchise's pre-season camp, and Dhoni has yet to feature in any of CSK's nine matches this season. The decision to keep him in Chennai for rehab rather than carry him as part of the travelling group fits the cautious tone the management has used about him from the outset, with the franchise saying only that he should be available "at some stage" once the recovery is complete.
For a side that has built so much of its on-field decision-making around Dhoni's reads behind the stumps, his absence has become the season's running subplot rather than a passing hiccup.
Ruturaj's CSK keep adapting around the gaps
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been leading the side through one of the most disrupted CSK campaigns in recent memory. Top-order batter Ayush Mhatre, the team's leading run-scorer before he was hurt, has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a left hamstring tear suffered against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 18; CSK have given him a 6-12 week rehab window. Bowling all-rounder Ramakrishna Ghosh, the medium-pacer who picked up a CSK debut against Mumbai Indians at Chepauk on Saturday, fractured his right foot during that game and was confirmed out for the season earlier this week. Pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Nathan Ellis have also been sidelined.
The reshuffles around Mhatre's slot have not paid off either. Matthew Short and Urvil Patel have both been tried at the top of the order without finding the impact Mhatre offered before the injury, and that has been a clear factor in the team's batting struggling for fluency.
A points-table shootout in Delhi
Despite all of that, CSK arrive in the capital still alive in the playoff race. Both they and Delhi Capitals sit on eight points from nine matches, the Super Kings in sixth place, with the loser of Tuesday's contest taking a heavy hit to their qualification math. Axar Patel's DC come in off the back of a record 226-run chase against Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh, while CSK travel after their eight-wicket home win over Mumbai Indians on Saturday, the same evening Ghosh's IPL debut ended in a fracture.
Simons would not put a date on Dhoni's return, and there is no real indication the club wants to pre-commit to one. The picture in May looks much like it did in March: Dhoni in Chennai, rehab progressing, and Ruturaj's group still figuring out how to win without him.
Related Tags:
Cricket Updates
