Thala, one more time! MS Dhoni set for another IPL season with CSK

NEW DELHI: Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain is very likely to turn up for the franchise in the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League. CEO Kasi Viswanathan says they are hopeful to have his services for the upcoming season.

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"We are extremely hopeful that he will be playing the next season," says Kasi.

Dhoni has been playing for the Yellow Army since the inaugural edition and had to move base to Rising Pune Supergiants when the CSK unit was banned from the cash-rich league for a period of two years. The 2026 season will be his 17th with the franchise and 19th in the IPL. There are very few players who have been featuring in the IPL since the first season and Dhoni, even at 44, continues to go strong.



The wicketkeeper-batter was retained by the CSK unit as an "uncapped player" before the 2025 mega auction as a rule change allowed the Indian players who have not played international cricket for five years to go into the auction pool as uncapped. Dhoni was retained for Rs 4 crore and the rule change allowed CSK to retain four more players - Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs 18 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 18 crore) Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 13 crore) and Shivam Dube (Rs 12 crore).

With his participation confirmed, Dhoni is expected to play a key role in shaping up the franchise as they finished 10th in the last edition after narrowly missing out on a playoffs berth in the 2024 season.

The former India captain has guided the franchise to five titles — in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023 — and established himself as the heartbeat of the yellow brigade.

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