For the eighth time in a row in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are taking the field without MS Dhoni.
The development came in on Sunday when CSK skkiper Ruturaj Gaikwad mentioned just a single change in Urvil Patel against Gujarat Titans.
Dhoni, who had suffered a calf strain before IPL 2026, was initially ruled out for two weeks on March 28. But its been nearly a month that nobody has seen Dhoni's name in the CSK playing XI, not even in the impact sub list. In fact, Dhoni chose to stay at the hotel in Chennai.
"It's (pitch) a bit on the drier side. We don't mind putting a score and defending it. The confidence is high. This game starts from zero. We have to assess. We are slightly getting better and better. One or two areas we need to click. I've been getting starts. One change. Urvil comes in," Gaikwad told toss presenter Simon Doull during the coin toss.
Dhoni wasn't even named in the impact sub list. One of the few players to play all the seasons of IPL, Dhoni has so far played 278 games, and scored 5439 at an average of 38.30. He has 24 fifties to his name but no hundred.
Latest update on MS Dhoni's fitness
Earlier, during CSK's IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, former Australian opener and current CSK batting coach Michael Hussey gave a deep insight on Dhoni's latest fitness report. Hussey informed that Dhoni is progressing well as he looked good with the bat at the nets and is working on his running between the wickets.
"We're hopeful maybe in the next few games. We want him back as quickly as he possibly can as well. But obviously he needs to be close to 100% ready to give his best. Because he's been batting well on the nets. He looks good in the nets. Just needs to run hard between the wickets too," Hussey said.
The Australian also added that Dhoni will keep wickets upon return, thus making Sanju Samson field without the big gloves. "I'm pretty sure he'll be behind the stumps. The biggest thing for him is that he's had the calf injury, it's just the running and late in innings, if he comes in, having to scamper those ones and twos, he just needs to make sure the calf is strong enough to withstand that," added Hussey, who had played for CSK in IPL.
CSK vs GT playing XIs
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh
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