MS Dhoni can return to the Chennai Super Kings team on 23 April. Dhoni has not played a single match in IPL 2026 till now due to injury. CSK will face Mumbai Indians on 23rd April, which will be their seventh match of the season. Dhoni is coming back, this is really good news for CSK but it will also be bad news for one player. Because if Dhoni comes in the playing eleven, then one player will have to go out of the final-11. Know here, in place of which player Dhoni can fit in the playing eleven of Chennai.
Dhoni is in, then who will be out?
Apart from captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, the top order of Chennai Super Kings has done well. Therefore, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre and even Dewald Brevis have a confirmed place in the team. Whereas Gaikwad is the captain, it is difficult for him to be out. In such a situation, the first 4 orders seem confirmed.
On the other hand, if we talk about bowling, CSK team has already lost 2 main fast bowlers in the form of Nathan Ellis and Khalil Ahmed. Both are out of IPL 2026 due to injury. The responsibility of bowling will be handled by Jamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj and currently Gurjapaneet Singh will be seen handling the role of the third fast bowler. Noor Ahmed is the main spin bowler of the team. Due to the injury of Khalil Ahmed, there is a vacancy in the bowling order in the team, which Dhoni will not be able to fill. Even if Dhoni comes to bat from seven to nine positions, five bowlers will also be confirmed in the team.
Will he replace Sarfaraz?
The place of five bowlers and four upper order batsmen is confirmed in the playing eleven. Here only two middle order orders remain vacant. Since Shivam Dubey has been the main finisher of the team in the last years, Dubey’s place seems to be safe. Now we are left with Sarfaraz Khan, who despite being in good form, may have to lose his place in the playing eleven. So far, Sarfaraz has scored 122 runs in five matches in IPL 2026 at a stormy strike rate of around 182.
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