Summary of this article
Chennai Super Kings placed seventh, SunRisers Hyderabad third in points table
CSK win toss, opt to bat first in last home game of IPL 2026
MS Dhoni still unfit to play
As Ruturaj Gaikwad stood at the toss for match 63 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday (May 18), there was one question on everyone's minds, and commentator Ravi Shastri voiced it eventually.
ALSO READ: CSK Vs SRH Live Score
Will MS Dhoni finally take the field this season? The question bore additional weight, considering Dhoni arrived at the venue, and it is the last match at Chepauk in IPL 2026 as no games are scheduled in Chennai in the playoffs.
Gaikwad responded in the negative, much to the disappointment of 'Anbuden'. "He is here but he is not fit enough to play. But you never know if we win this and he comes for the last one," the Super Kings skipper told Shastri.
The 2026 edition was widely being considered as Dhoni's likely last one in the league. If at all he was to give a send-off at his second home of sorts, this was the perfect occasion. But then, when has Dhoni done such things the conventional way?
The former India captain has famously announced national retirements when least expected, and he could well do the same in IPL. Nevertheless, home fans would hope that if and when Dhoni does hang his gloves, he does so at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
CSK Vs SRH, IPL 2026: Playing XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Spencer Johnson
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Substitutes: Travis Head, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel
Chennai Super Kings Impact Substitutes: Mukesh Choudhary, Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Gurjapneet Singh
IPL 2026 Playoff Fixtures
Qualifier 1: Dharamsala, May 26
Eliminator: New Chandigarh, May 27
Qualifier 2: New Chandigarh, May 29
Final: Ahmedabad, May 31
