MS Dhoni is “likely to miss the first two weeks” of IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings confirmed on Saturday morning, only a few hours before the competition got underway. A minor calf strain, picked up late in the pre-season camp, has forced the 44-year-old into a spell of rehabilitation and, for now at least, out of CSK’s match-day plans.
The immediate schedule does Dhoni few favours. Super Kings open against Rajasthan Royals on Monday, then meet Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in quick succession. Even if his recovery goes smoothly he may not be sighted until mid-April.
In Dhoni’s absence, new arrival Sanju Samson is the obvious stand-in behind the stumps. Samson, traded in from Royals in the high-profile swap that sent Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran the other way, is anyway pencilled in to open with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. The back-up keeping options are Urvil Patel, retained after three brisk cameos last year, and 21-year-old Kartik Sharma, the INR 14.2 crore pick whose domestic six-hitting earned rave reviews.
Last season Dhoni featured in all 14 fixtures but preferred to appear only at the death, finishing with 196 runs at a strike rate a shade above 135. CSK, though, managed just four victories and propped up the table, a fact that still seems to grate inside the camp.
Samson said little publicly, yet a team-mate suggested the mood is “quietly angry rather than noisy” after that 2025 slump. The players, in short, know the equation: early wins buy breathing space; early defeats pile on the drama.
The Dhoni news comes on top of a separate blow: Nathan Ellis is already out for the season with a hamstring problem, replaced by fellow Australian left-armer Spencer Johnson. Johnson joins Matt Henry at the head of a seam group that also includes Khaleel Ahmed, Gurjapneet Singh, Zak Foulkes, Anshul Kamboj, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton, Mukesh Choudhary and the all-round option Shivam Dube. Plenty of bodies, but not quite the proven cutting edge of earlier CSK attacks.
What, then, does two Dhoni-less weeks look like? Samson can keep and Kartik can hit, yet neither offers the same late-over calm—or the tactical counsel Gaikwad has leaned on. An impact-player role is feasible once Dhoni is fit, though that discussion is being parked until the medical staff give him the all-clear.
For the wider tournament, the absence removes one pillar of the so-called Big Three narrative. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will still dominate headlines, but the seasoned counterpoint at No. 7 in yellow is, at least for now, unavailable. CSK supporters have been here before, of course, and will probably cling to the same mantra: get through the first fortnight, keep within touching distance, and trust that the old finisher still has a decisive burst left in him.
