The Dhoni Question: How CSK’s IPL Fate Is Inextricably Linked With Their Absent Talisman

On the evening of May 18, the MA Chidambaram Stadium was a cauldron of nervous yellow energy. It was Match 63 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, a make-or-break fixture for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against the already-qualified Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

At the toss, Ravi Shastri leaned into the microphone and asked CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad the only question that truly mattered to the 40,000-strong congregation: “MS Dhoni, where is he? Is he playing?”

There was a deafening cheer from the home crowd, but it died down after the crowd heard Gaikwad’s answer. As has been the case all season, Dhoni was in the dugout but not fit enough to take the field.

Is Dhoni Still Relevant?

When the mid-innings break arrived and the 44-year-old Dhoni strolled onto the pitch for a team photograph, the decibel level at Chepauk shattered all kinds of records.

Dhoni hadn’t faced a single delivery in IPL 2026. He hadn’t kept wickets for a single over. In fact, he missed the entire season due to a calf injury. He hasn’t been the team captain for over two years. Yet, he is the one who rules over the hearts and minds of the CSK fans.

For CSK, an uncomfortable truth is that their most powerful, relevant, and consequential figure was a man dressed not in spikes and gloves, but in training gear.

Has CSK’s Campaign Been A Failure?

For a team with a record five IPL trophies in their cabinet, being eliminated in the group stage is an unmitigated disaster. An 89-run loss to Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday officially ended their IPL 2026 campaign, but any realistic hopes of competing for the title were over long before.

CSK finished bottom of the pile in IPL 2025. This year, they finished in seventh place, with a chance of dropping even further if Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday.

In a way, the crumbling of the CSK empire is akin to the trajectory of their talisman, MS Dhoni. Two names that once evoked fear in their opponents are now spent forces, one failing to get on the pitch, and the other failing to perform on it.

Can CSK Come Out Of Dhoni’s Shadow?

For CSK, their mission in the last two years has been to successfully prepare for a life after Dhoni. That transition, safe to say, has not gone well, but not for a lack of trying. Gaikwad, groomed by Dhoni and head coach Stephen Fleming, was entrusted with the captaincy in 2024, with the aim of becoming the next face of the CSK project.

They have spent big on young prospects, too, with some individual success stories. Their record-breaking INR 14.20 crore signing of 20-year-old Kartik Sharma has proved to be a wise decision, and teen prodigy Ayush Mhatre has been a bright spark at the top of the order.

Cricket, though, is not just about individual metrics. It is about coming together as a team to create a winning culture, something Dhoni was a master at. He was the ultimate pressure sponge, able to instil a sense of calm.

In his absence, the young players have cracked under the immense pressure of the IPL. This has been evident in their fielding. The team has dropped 20 catches this season, which is the joint third-highest.

Gaikwad is an able captain, but he is nowhere close to the stoic presence that is MS Dhoni. That has hurt CSK a lot in their bid to transition to the post-Dhoni era.

Will Dhoni Play Next Season?

The most interesting part of CSK is how the team’s brand remains secondary to Dhoni’s. The former champions have been eliminated in a humiliating manner, yet all fans want to know is if Dhoni will be a part of the team in the next season’s IPL.

Next year, Dhoni will be 45. The calf injury that has kept him out all season will surely affect his already limited mobility, making him little more than a “stand-and-hit” sort of finisher. Yet, ask any CSK fan if they would want Dhoni to retire, and you will rarely hear a “yes”.

Even the franchise has no immediate plan to move on from Dhoni. When asked point-blank if CSK expect Dhoni to play in IPL 2027, bowling coach Eric Simmons replied with an incredulous, “Are you seriously asking me that question?”

Simmons then explained Dhoni’s current status. “He obviously had a leg injury, which made it very difficult for him to run, so that’s why he couldn’t play. But in terms of hitting the ball in the nets, he’s hitting it as well as I’ve ever seen him hit it.”

The decision now rests with Dhoni. CSK will not push him out, nor will they demand he play. As Simmons noted, Dhoni will take the call “in the best interest of the team and not for himself as an individual”.

If Dhoni recovers well, it is entirely plausible that he stays on as a highly specialised late-order finisher. If he does not, he will surely be handed a mentor or coaching role with the team.

In sports, an individual player, no matter how big, will always be outlasted by the institution. Manchester United have survived the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson; the New England Patriots have navigated life after Tom Brady; Real Madrid have moved on from the days of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.

But CSK are, in this sense, an anomaly. At Chennai Super Kings, the individual is the institution. Dhoni is CSK; CSK is Dhoni.