MS Dhoni to decide availability for MI vs CSK match, Gaikwad or Fleming won’t make fitness call

“Cricket is a team sport played by individuals.” Last year, former England cricketer and captain Kevin Pietersen perfectly described the sport in a short sentence. Often in cricket, we see cricketers supersede the team. This translates into how the audience appreciates a player as well. Hundreds are celebrated, even if they come at the cost of your team losing.

In modern T20 cricket, the celebration of milestones and one cricketer seems to be going down. Sanju Samson showed that in the T20 World Cup 2026, where he scored 97*, 89, and 89 in the last three matches for India. A few years before, he might’ve slowed down for his hundred, and it wouldn’t have been India lifting the trophy.

CSK leaves fitness call to MS Dhoni

But some teams are still revolving around these cricketers, who’ve turned into superstars. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) aren’t going to take a call on MS Dhoni. The wicketkeeper, who hasn’t played a match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 due to a calf injury sustained during the pre-season training, will play if and when he is fit.

MS Dhoni and Ruturaj Gaikwad taking in the middle during IPL 2025 | Image Credit: Vikram Chandrasekar via ZUMA Press Wire (Alamy)

CSK are due to face off against their arch-rivals, the Mumbai Indians (MI), on April 23. The game has been billed as the IPL’s El Clásico, considering CSK and MI are the most successful franchises in the league with 5 titles each. Despite CSK being in a risky position of virtually eliminating any possibility of reaching the playoffs, they’ve decided that Dhoni will decide if he plays or not.

It won’t be the physio Tommy Simsek, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, or head coach Stephen Fleming who’ll make that tough. But Dhoni will take the final decision.

“The CSK management is waiting on Dhoni to tell them when he is finally ready. The decision is entirely and entirely his. If he believes it could be in Mumbai or it could be on the 26th in Chennai against the Gujarat Titans — it would be his decision. While he did wicketkeeping and batted at the nets at Wankhede on Tuesday, he hasn’t yet conveyed anything to the CSK management when he can finally step out in the middle,” a source told RevSportz.

Now, one understands that he has led CSK to 5 trophies. But should a 44-year-old part-time player, who only plays international cricket from March to May each year, take that call irrespective of how well he knows his body when the jobs and careers of many are on the line? A well-reasoned answer would be no. But that’s how CSK have done things. And it looks like, despite constant failures post that IPL 2023 run, they aren’t willing to learn.

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