There is no clarity on MS Dhoni’s return after three weeks have passed into IPL 2026, as he is yet to play a single match this season. Two days before the start of IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings said that the former India skipper will miss the tournament for the first two weeks due to a calf injury.
CSK remain at the bottom half of the table with two wins so far, with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad facing criticism for his leadership and batting form where he has scored 82 runs in six innings.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has blamed the CSK management for how they have handled the Dhoni situation, and has extended support to the struggling Gaikwad.
“This blame, I’m going to put at the doorstep of the owners and people who make the big decisions. Because Gaikwad, before he was captain, was phenomenal at the top of the order,” said Manjrekar while speaking on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast.
Then the Dhoni fandom and his aura surrounding CSK is not helping Gaikwad to evolve as a leader, which Manjrekar calls it “sycophancy of Indian culture”.
“And then that thing with MS Dhoni — whether he’s going to be playing, whether he’s going to be captain — they handled that very badly. And this is where you see the sycophancy of Indian culture that has seeped into cricket as well. I mean, there isn’t just a fan following of Dhoni, there is sycophancy around it,” he added.
Manjrekar pointed to an instance where he was hauled over the coals by Dhoni’s fans.
“There was one instance of Dhoni trying to put his bat into the crease, and it was a very close call. And I said he was clearly short and should be run out. They got angry with me for saying that because it was seen as anti-Dhoni. Somewhere, they lost sight of the bigger picture.”
When asked if Dhoni’s return would take some pressure off Gaikwad, Manjrekar wasn’t too sure how CSK would fit him into the playing XI. He also made a subtle remark about the hype around Dhoni’s short cameos in recent seasons.
“Maybe, but then you have to play Dhoni on the field. And how do you do that? Increasingly, he’s finding it tough to deliver. It was a bit of a joke when he came down the order to face three or four balls and the coverage hyped it up as ‘what an innings’. It lasted four balls.
“So that’s not feasible anymore, and it was never going to be a long-term solution. I can’t pretend to know how Ruturaj felt when MS was on the field but not captaining, as opposed to not being there at all,” he said.
CSK still have no clarity on Dhoni’s return for their next game against Mumbai Indians while he is recovering.
“Not really, I’m not sure,” batting coach Michael Hussey said when asked about Dhoni’s return. “He’s progressing nicely with his rehab, and I’m happy with how he’s batting.”
