MS Dhoni Misses IPL 2026 Opener Due to Injury
Dhoni's Absence in IPL 2026 Opening Match
In a surprising turn of events, MS Dhoni will not be participating in the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) first match of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. Despite being retained for this season, the legendary wicketkeeper-batter is sidelined due to a calf strain and is currently undergoing rehabilitation. At 44 years old, Dhoni is one of only four players to have participated in all previous 18 editions of the IPL, but he will not join fellow stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma on the field this season just yet.
CSK has confirmed that Dhoni will miss at least the first two weeks of the tournament, which means he will also be unavailable for matches against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). An official statement from the franchise noted, "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." This marks only the sixth occasion in CSK's 18-year history that Dhoni will not be part of the playing XI. Out of 277 matches played by the franchise, he has missed only five games previously, with the last being in 2019 against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
In Dhoni's absence, wicketkeeping duties will be taken over by Sanju Samson, who is making his debut for CSK. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been retained as the regular captain, will lead the team. Last season, Dhoni stepped in as captain for the final nine matches after Gaikwad was injured.
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