MS Dhoni made his return to the CSK ground on match day for the first time in IPL 2026, but he was not named in the playing XI and did not sit on the substitutes bench either.
In Chennai, the captain who won the toss opted to bat first, with Ruturaj Gaikwad explaining that Dhoni was not “fit enough” to take the field. Gaikwad also pointed to the surface, describing it as slightly dry, and suggested that setting a target would be the smarter route given the conditions. He added that the absence of dew played a part in the decision. CSK then made one late tweak: Akeal Hosein came into the XI, replacing Gurjapneet Singh, who had been listed among the Impact Subs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad were coming into the contest after a week-long break. Their previous outing had ended in disappointment as they were bowled out for 86 in Ahmedabad. For SRH, a victory in this match would not only strengthen their own playoff chances, but it would also keep Gujarat Titans’ qualification scenario alive.
Playing XIs and Impact Substitutes
Chennai Super Kings
- 1 Sanju Samson (wk)
- 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt)
- 3 Urvil Patel
- 4 Kartik Sharma
- 5 Dewald Brevis
- 6 Shivam Dube
- 7 Prashant Veer
- 8 Akeal Hosein
- 9 Anshul Kamboj
- 10 Spencer Johnson
- 11 Noor Ahmad
Impact Substitutes (CSK)
- Mukesh Choudhary
- Matt Short
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Aman Khan
- Gurjapneet Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad
- 1 Abhishek Sharma
- 2 Ishan Kishan (wk)
- 3 Heinrich Klaasen
- 4 R Smaran
- 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy
- 6 Salil Arora
- 7 Pat Cummins (capt)
- 8 Praful Hinge
- 9 Shivang Kumar
- 10 Eshan Malinga
- 11 Sakib Hussain
Impact Substitutes (SRH)
- Travis Head
- Aniket Verma
- Liam Livingstone
- Harsh Dubey
- Harshal Patel
