Sanju Samson added his name to a list long dominated by MS Dhoni after the Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batter broke Dhoni's record for most runs scored by a designated CSK wicketkeeper in a single IPL season during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chepauk on Monday.
Dhoni had scored 461 runs in 16 innings during the 2013 season. Samson needed only 12 runs to surpass that mark and reached the milestone in just six balls, scoring 15 runs in Chennai Super Kings' innings against Nitish Kumar Reddy's opening over.
Samson continued his attacking approach and struck three consecutive boundaries against Praful Hinge in the second over. He was batting on 27 off 11 balls when SRH captain Pat Cummins brought himself into the attack.
Cummins first bowled a yorker that Samson managed to dig out before following it up with a delivery outside off stump. Samson attempted a drive, edged the ball and was caught behind.
Dhoni's record as a wicketkeeper-batter for CSK remains unmatched overall, with Samson becoming only the second player to feature prominently in the list. Only three wicketkeepers have scored more than 100 runs for CSK in a season — Dhoni, Parthiv Patel in 2008, and Samson this season. Samson now has 477 runs in IPL 2026 from 13 innings at an average of 47.7.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2026 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The Hyderabad side had earlier beaten CSK by 10 runs this season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
During the toss, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad confirmed that MS Dhoni was unavailable for the match because of fitness issues. "We are looking to bat first. Looking a bit dry, and we want to put up a good total. Even the last game against MI, it wasn't the best of wickets to bat on. Nothing complicated, and we want to keep it simple. MS Dhoni is still here, but he is not fit enough to play this game. We have one change," CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said during the toss.
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