For the first time in the history of IPL, the CSK franchise will play a match without its two veteran stars Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni. While the former has retired from the IPL, the wicketkeeper is currently injured and has not recovered from the injury.
Chennai Super Kings will be led by Ruturaj Gaikwad this season. This will be his third season as team captain; However, citing his injury-plagued condition, the Super Kings have been forced to consider a potential backup in Sanju Samson. Samson previously led Rajasthan Royals as captain till IPL 2025.
CSK scouts have always been doing some amazing work in IPL. They have picked up many of the bright stars of Indian cricket, and now they have a quality group of cricketers who could be the next generation of superstars for India, including players like Ayush Mhatre from 2025 and Prashant Veer from 2026.
CSK will play IPL match for the first time without these 2 legends
For the first time, when Chennai Super Kings were formed at the beginning of the IPL in the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008, two players were considered to be the faces of the team. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni are two Indian batsmen.
While players like Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan, Doug Bollinger, Albie Morkel and Shane Watson have performed in the IPL for the Super Kings, these two Indian greats have always remained ‘Thala’ and ‘Chinna Thala’ in the hearts of CSK fans.
This will be the first time this season that they will be without these two Indian legends. While Raina has retired from this format, Dhoni will not be available at the beginning of the season.
No Dhoni. No Raina.
For the first time, CSK will play without anyone in the team.#IPL2026 #cricbuzz #CricketKaAsliApp pic.twitter.com/hB9gkCntx1
– Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) 28 March 2026
Why MS Dhoni won’t start for CSK in IPL 2026?
MS Dhoni will not be able to start for Chennai Super Kings this season. The former Indian captain announced that he will be a part of this IPL as well; However, the CSK management also claimed that his availability will depend on fitness.
MS Dhoni was hit hard as a calf injury ruled him out of the competition. Due to this injury he will be out of the initial phase of the competition. He will be out of action for almost the first two weeks of IPL 2026.
Chennai Super Kings will start their campaign against Rajasthan Royals in the third match of IPL. They will start their campaign at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. They will also have Sanju Samson, Urvil Patel and Karthik Sharma as three replacement keepers in the team.
IPL stats of Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni
Over the years, MS Dhoni has been one of the most experienced players of the IPL. He has appeared in more than 278 matches for them and has a unique record of remaining unbeaten in more than 100 innings.
The batsman has scored 5439 runs at an average of 38.30 and a strike rate of around 138. This legendary batsman is the highest run scorer for Chennai Super Kings. Suresh Raina has participated in more than 200 IPL matches and has scored 5528 runs.
Raina is the second highest run scorer for CSK in IPL history. He also scored 841 runs in the two seasons he played for Gujarat Lions. Dhoni also played those two seasons for Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016–17, as he managed to score just 576 runs.
Also read: “MS Dhoni doesn’t get involved in team discussions” – Ruturaj Gaikwad makes surprising role reveal
