Dhoni To Miss First Two Weeks Of IPL 2026 With Calf Strain

Chennai Super Kings have confirmed that MS Dhoni will miss the first two weeks of IPL 2026 due to a calf strain — ruling him out of Monday's season opener against Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.

"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," CSK announced on social media. The confirmation came hours after the franchise shared a video of a practice match in which Dhoni batted with Sanju Samson keeping wickets — a visual that now doubles as a preview of the team's likely arrangement in his absence.

With Dhoni unavailable, Samson — traded to CSK from Rajasthan Royals in an exchange that saw Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran move the other way — is expected to don the gloves in the opening games. Monday's match will see both Samson and Jadeja line up against their former franchise, adding an extra layer of narrative to the season's curtain-raiser.

Dhoni's latest fitness setback has intensified already widespread speculation that IPL 2026 could be his final season. The 43-year-old himself acknowledged at CSK's 'ROAR 26' fan event at Chepauk that his fitness level was "on the way down." His persistent knee issues have already pushed him to the lower middle order, where he plays a limited but explosive death-overs role. CSK's investments — including Samson's arrival and a Rs 14.20 crore outlay on uncapped Rajasthan wicketkeeper-batter Kartik Sharma — are being widely read as preparations for a post-Dhoni era.

In 278 IPL matches, Dhoni has scored 5,439 runs at an average of 38.30 and a strike rate of 137.45, making him the tournament's sixth-highest run-getter of all time.