The much-anticipated return of MS Dhoni to the IPL 2026 stage did not materialize as the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman remained sidelined for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field first.
Dhoni's Recovery and Practice Sessions
Dhoni has been recovering from a calf strain sustained just before the tournament began late last month. Fans had built up significant expectations ahead of the marquee encounter, hoping to see the former CSK captain in action. A day before the match, Dhoni entertained the stadium crew and groundstaff, playing with the robot dog 'Champak' during a practice session. On Tuesday, he underwent a rigorous training session, keeping wickets and spending time batting in the nets. On Wednesday, he had a short initial stint before returning for nearly an hour of practice against throwdown specialists and fast bowlers. However, despite these efforts, he was not deemed fit for the game.
Captains' Comments at the Toss
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, after winning the toss, stated: 'We are gonna bowl first. Lot of boxes were ticked, intensity was there, we needed that game where everyone comes in and chips in. There was a conscious effort that intensity is in your hands, we wanted to just have fun and things went our way. It looks green, but it played really well. Same team.'
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made one change to the XI, said: 'We would have bowled first as well, but it was a 50-50 call. It looks a good wicket and coming here at Wankhede Stadium, you have to bat well irrespective of whether you’re batting first or bowling first. So it is just about putting up a great show even if you’re batting first. We are doing really well. It’s just that we are not able to cash in on a couple of moments. But I think we pulled it back really well during our bowling in the last game. Even batting, we had started off really well. But as I said, it’s just a couple of moments where we have to make sure we cash in and we get that win. But everyone is confident and ready to go.'
Gaikwad also acknowledged the support from fans, saying: 'Yes, obviously all thanks to the legend (Dhoni) who is not here unfortunately. But obviously it is because of him. Everywhere you go, we have a lot of support. So hopefully we’ll make them happy tonight. We’ve got a couple of changes.'
Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock (w), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Krish Bhagat, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (w), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary.
Fans continue to wait for Dhoni's return as the IPL season progresses.
