{"id":49208,"date":"2026-04-18T16:17:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=49208"},"modified":"2026-04-18T16:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:54:09","slug":"ipl-2026-srh-vs-csk-is-ms-dhoni-playing-todays-match-know-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026-srh-vs-csk-is-ms-dhoni-playing-todays-match-know-more\/","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026 SRH VS CSK: Is MS Dhoni playing today\u2019s match? Know More"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Dhoni travels but unlikely to play tonight<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>MS Dhoni has travelled with Chennai Super Kings to Hyderabad, but he is unlikely to feature against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He is still recovering from a calf strain and remains in rehab. The management is not keen to rush him back. So, will he take the field tonight? All indications suggest no, though the call remains officially open.<\/p>\n<p>This is the first away trip for Dhoni this season after staying back in Chennai to recover. His arrival has lifted the mood around the squad, and fans have responded in numbers. Videos of him at the airport and with the team have spread quickly, but presence does not equal readiness. Reports point to a return being planned for the next game, likely against Mumbai Indians.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Signs of progress but no rush from CSK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are positive signs. Dhoni batted in the nets on Friday, hitting cleanly and without visible discomfort. He also joined a light football session with teammates, including Sanju Samson and Sarfaraz Khan.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Stephen Fleming kept it brief, saying only that Dhoni is \u201cprogressing well\u201d. No timeline, no confirmation. That leaves the decision where it has been all week, day to day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dhoni close to return as CSK weigh combination call<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>MS Dhoni is nearing match fitness after a three-week rehab for a calf strain and has travelled with Chennai Super Kings for an away game for the first time this season. After winning over Kolkata Knight Riders by 32 runs, Chennai Super Kings are now taking their momentum forward with back-to-back wins. It will be interesting to see how they approach against Sunrisers Hyderabad and what combination they try.<\/p>\n<p>Even without playing, his influence is clear. Assistant coach Sridharan Sriram said Noor Ahmad\u2019s 3\/21 against Kolkata Knight Riders followed detailed inputs from Dhoni in the nets. CSK are not under pressure to force a return. Sanju Samson has handled wicketkeeping duties and contributed with the bat. The side has won its last two games, which reduces urgency.<\/p>\n<p>There was talk of using Dhoni as an Impact Player, but that seems unlikely for now. Khaleel Ahmed is ruled out, leaving a gap with the new ball. CSK must decide his replacement. The big question is when MS Dhoni is fully ready and whether CSK wait for that moment without compromise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dhoni travels but unlikely to play tonight MS Dhoni has travelled with Chennai Super Kings to Hyderabad, but he is\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":49209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4057],"class_list":["post-49208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl","tag-top-stories"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49208"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49212,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49208\/revisions\/49212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}