MS Dhoni is not playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their opening game of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati despite being retained by the franchise for the 19th edition. The star wicketkeeper-batter is one of just four players to play a match in all 18 editions so far but will not join Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as those who have played a game in this season too just yet.
For those unversed, Dhoni has been ruled out due to a calf strain and is currently undergoing rehabilitation. The 44-year-old has not traveled with the team to Guwahati. The franchise has revealed that he will be absent for the first two weeks of the season, which ensures he will not play against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) either.
“MS Dhoni is currently undergoing rehabilitation for a calf strain. As a result, he is likely to miss the first two weeks of TATA IPL 2026,” said CSK in an official statement issued on their social media account.
This is only the sixth game in CSK’s history over the last 18 years in which Dhoni is not part of the playing XI. The franchise has played 277 matches (253 in IPL), but only five times before has the legendary captain not played. The last instance of the Men in Yellow taking the field without the Indian cricket legend in their playing XI was in 2019 during a league stage match against the Mumbai Indians (MI). In each of the last five occasions Dhoni did not play for CSK; Suresh Raina led the side.
CSK are also without star batsman Dewald Brevis for this fixture. Dhoni’s absence means Sanju Samson will take up wicketkeeping duties on his debut. Ruturaj Gaikwad is leading the side after being retained as regular captain. Last year, Dhoni had captained the five-time champions for the last nine games after Ruturaj suffered an elbow injury, which ruled him out of the season after the first five games.
Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma(w), Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed
CSK Impact Player Options:Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Veer, Rahul Chahar, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma.
RR Impact Player Options: Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Tushar Deshpande
