For the first time in the history of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), an IPL season has finished without MS Dhoni playing a single match. This has happened despite Dhoni being part of the squad for the 2026 Indian Premier League campaign, as persistent injury issues kept him out of the game.

Speaking at the press conference following the defeat against the Gujarat Titans, CSK bowling coach Eric Simons said, “Well, you’re seriously asking me that question?” Simons smiled when asked if the team is hopeful of seeing Dhoni play next year. “Yeah, look, we always are. I mean, honestly, he has hit the ball so well. 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.”

“But I keep saying this, only MS will know, and MS will make the decision about when he’s ready and when he’s right. And I tell you what, if he knows he’s not, he won’t play, but if he is right, he will. He’ll make the decision in the best interest of the team and not for himself as an individual. But it’d be great to have him playing. It’s been great just having him around the unit and being someone to tap into for knowledge and calmness,” he further added.

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While talking about the turbulent nature of CSK’s campaign this year, Simons added that the squad is in a developmental phase, with a lot of young players getting chances as well.

“I think an important part of winning an IPL is that you get your balance right and you have a side that can carry itself through, where your changes are made a long way before the game, not because someone’s out of form, but because you’re moving into a particular condition,” Simons added.

“We know ourselves a lot better as a unit now, and we also know a lot of the individuals better in terms of what they can and can’t do. Someone like Kartik has come along magnificently this season, we know what he’s about, Urvil, we know what he’s about. Obviously, the established players, we’ve always known who they were and what they are,” he shared.

“But I do know that we’ve come away from this tournament understanding ourselves as a unit better, and that stands us in good stead. Across the board, we’re quite a young or reasonably inexperienced side, and then we obviously had a lot of unlucky injuries along the way. Just as we were gaining momentum, we lost someone like Jamie Overton, who is such a balancing factor in our team. He is so important to our bowling attack through the middle overs so we don’t have to make radical changes, and he can also bat at the back end of the innings. Losing him threw us off a bit, but we’ve learned a lot about ourselves both as a unit and as individuals,” Simons concluded.