Talk about legendary cricketer ms dhoniAvailability for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season has once again come to the fore, along with speculations over how many matches the wicketkeeper-batsman will play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Dhoni will turn 45 at the end of this year.
Earlier, CSK had acquired the services of Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals (RR) via trade for Rs 18 crore. The move has sparked talks that Dhoni's role may be reduced and he may not feature in every league game during IPL 2026.
“We can confirm that he is coming to Chennai and he has confirmed his availability for the season. Whether he will play all the games or not, we cannot say at the moment,” a senior CSK source was quoted as saying by India Today.
In any case, with the impact player rule in place, batsman Dhoni has not been required extensively in the last two editions. His role has been largely situational, often limited to late cameos. Dhoni, a five-time IPL winner with CSK, retired from international cricket in August 2020.
Earlier, CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan shed light on Dhoni's playing future ahead of the upcoming IPL season. Dhoni has been a part of the franchise since the inception of the IPL in 2008. He also represented the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPSG) for two seasons when CSK were banned from the league in 2016 and 2017.
“He will play, he will play,” Vishwanathan was quoted as saying by NDTV Sports.
Amidst the ongoing discussions over his playing future, Dhoni recently ruled out the possibility of stepping into the commentary box. He described the popular post-retirement role as a challenging balancing act driven by statistics, admitting that he finds it difficult to remember and keep track of extensive data.
“Commentary is very hard to do. I think there is a very fine line between narrating the game and in that process getting to that zone where you start criticizing the individuals playing the game. It's a very thin line. Often, you don't even think that what you are doing could be wrong. You would always want to be on the other side where you are narrating the game. If you feel something is wrong then you say it,” Dhoni said in a YouTube conversation with Jatin Sapru. I said.
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