MS Dhoni Set To Miss Mumbai Indians Clash. Major Details Emerge On Possible IPL 2026 Return Date

Chennai Super Kings veteran MS Dhoni is unlikely to play the IPL 2026 encounter against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, according to RevSportz. Dhoni, who suffered a calf strain in pre-season, has not played a single match for his team in this year's competition. Dhoni has been practicing for quite some time now but it is believed that he is still not completely ready to make his return for CSK. Revsportz claimed that he is most likely play the match against Gujarat Titans on May 21 but the final decision reportedly lies with the former Indian cricket team skipper himself.

Decked in their respective teams' training kits, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni batted in tandem in the nets session here on Wednesday, even as they are yet to be officially cleared for availability in the Indian Premier League clash.

Rohit, who featured in the first four matches for MI, had walked off the pitch during the contest against Royal Challengers Bengaluru here 10 days ago with a hamstring injury and has been on a comeback trail since.

On the other hand, Dhoni is yet to take the field in this IPL as he has been nursing a calf strain which he picked up right before the tournament got underway late last month.

The legendary CSK skipper had a full tilt in the training session on Tuesday when he kept the wickets followed by a batting session in the nets.

On Wednesday, he had a very short stint before taking a break and returned later on for nearly an hour to face throwdown specialists and fast bowlers.

While he did connect with a few that went sailing, Dhoni had a mixed outing in which he also missed connecting with a few. Dhoni's availability, as per CSK bowling coach Eric Simons, will entirely depend on how “happy” the former skipper and the team's medical staff are.

But there were some light moments too on the field when Dhoni, a perennial dog lover, spotted the AI-powered IPL robotic dog and spent a few moments playing with it. He tried to have the dog imitate him with gestures, but there were also times when the robot couldn't.

Earlier in the day, Rohit arrived with his family in tow at the Wankhede before his batting stint under lights.

As per the team, the former Mumbai Indians' skipper has been batting but a final call on his selection would be taken around the toss time on Thursday. By the look of it, Rohit did not seem to be having any specific discomfort as he looked to time and place the ball more often than whacking it.

Meanwhile, India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav had three separate batting stints in the nets here on Wednesday which was MI's only full-squad training session apart from an optional one on Tuesday.

Apart from a sedate half-century in an away game against Delhi Capitals, Suryakumar has not been able to match the consistency which he had last season when he notched up 16 consecutive scores of at least 25 runs or more.

(With PTI inputs)

Featured Video Of The Day

Click here to read article