Will MS Dhoni play one last match in Chennai? Injury, retirement fears and CSK fans’ fading hope

R Ashwin’s Monday morning tweet has brought the blues for Chennai Super Kings fans, who were still clinging to the hope of watching MS Dhoni play one last time at Chepauk this season.

Ms Dhoni is most likely to miss CSK's last home match, but fans would hope to see him play. Image: IPL/X

FirstCricket Staff|May 18, 2026, 11:09:27 IST

R Ashwin has, in very few words, seemingly confirmed that MS Dhoni will not be playing for Chennai Super Kings on Monday in what will be their last home match of the ongoing IPL 2026. Dhoni has not played a single game in IPL 2026 due to a calf injury, and while it was rumoured multiple times that he was close to a comeback, it never happened.

Still, the local fans have been clinging onto one last hope of watching 'Thala' play once again for CSK at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Ashwin says no Dhoni for CSK vs SRH

Ashwin, however, has sent the bad news.

"Not happening today! In 2027? May be. Don’t think any batting changes will happen," Ashwin posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday morning, essentially hinting that Dhoni is set to miss out once again. But he also added a very crucial question -- will Dhoni return to CSK in 2027?

No Dhoni farewell in Chennai?

But will Dhoni retire from T20s without playing his last match in Chennai?

Dhoni's last match was last season at Ahmedabad. But he had said in 2021 that he would want to play his last T20 game in Chennai.

“I have always planned my cricket. The last game I played was in Ranchi. The last home game in ODI was at my hometown in Ranchi. So, hopefully, my last T20 will be in Chennai. Whether it's next year or in five years' time, we don't really know,” Dhoni had said.

Maybe, just maybe, Dhoni will live up to his words and while CSK are fighting a tough battle to qualify for IPL playoffs, we may still see the former India captain play once again, today, in Chennai. Because you never know what may happen next season.

CSK vs SRH predicted playing 11s

CSK playing 11: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Dian Forrester, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Spencer Johnson

Impact player: Mukesh Choudhary

SRH playing 11: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (w), Smaran Ravichandran, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora/Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain

Impact player: Praful Hinge

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