MS Dhoni to Decide His Own Return for Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians Clash

Last year, Kevin Pietersen explained cricket in a simple way. In cricket, sometimes one player becomes bigger than the team. Fans often celebrate a player’s century, even if the team loses the match. In modern T20 cricket, the celebration of milestones and one cricketer seems to be going down. Sanju Samson showed that in the T20 World Cup 2026, where he scored 97*, 89, and 89 in the last three matches for India. A few years before, he might’ve slowed down for his hundred, and it wouldn’t have been India lifting the trophy.

MS Dhoni to decide availability for MI vs CSK clash, not Ruturaj Gaikwad or Stephen Fleming

But some teams still depend heavily on star players who have become superstars. Chennai Super Kings, for example, are built around MS Dhoni, and the team is unlikely to make a big decision without him. The wicketkeeper, who hasn’t played a match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 due to a calf injury sustained during the pre-season training, will play if and when he is fit. CSK are due to face off against their arch-rivals, the Mumbai Indians (MI), on April 23.

The game has been billed as the IPL’s El Clásico, considering CSK and MI are the most successful franchises in the league with 5 titles each. Despite CSK being in a risky position of virtually eliminating any possibility of reaching the playoffs, they’ve decided that Dhoni will decide if he plays or not. It won’t be the captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, or head coach Stephen Fleming who’ll make that tough. But Dhoni will take the final decision.

“The CSK management is waiting on Dhoni to tell them when he is finally ready. The decision is entirely and entirely his. If he believes it could be in Mumbai or it could be on the 26th in Chennai against the Gujarat Titans, it would be his decision. While he did wicketkeeping and batted at the nets at Wankhede on Tuesday, he hasn’t yet conveyed anything to the CSK management when he can finally step out in the middle,” a source told RevSportz.

“A decision on him will be taken tomorrow by him and the medical staff, if he is absolutely ready to go,” CSK bowling coach Eric Simons said on the eve of the MI vs CSK match.