{"id":11155,"date":"2026-05-20T13:42:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims"},"modified":"2026-05-20T13:42:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:42:55","slug":"dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims","title":{"rendered":"Dhoni\u2019s Calf Worry Keeps Him Out as CSK Honor Sparks Emotional Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chennai Super Kings wrapped up their final home fixture of the IPL 2026 on May 18, but the spotlight on the night was as much about absence as it was about tradition. It marked the first time MS Dhoni had appeared on the field this season, yet the wicketkeeper-batter remained outside CSK\u2019s playing XI. Dhoni has been managing a calf issue and missed the opening stretch of the tournament, and the franchise has indicated that his decision to sit out is aimed at protecting the team\u2019s settled combinations.<\/p>\n<p>With the match taking place at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai\u2014CSK\u2019s last home game of the campaign\u2014the club followed the league\u2019s customary end-of-match ritual. A lap of honour was conducted after the final whistle, reflecting the emotional weight of a home finish.<\/p>\n<h2>Ashwin\u2019s reaction to the Dhoni moment<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>After the game, former India spinner and CSK colleague Ravichandran Ashwin opened up about what he saw during the lap of honour.<\/li>\n<li>Ashwin said that Dhoni\u2019s affection for CSK has always been clear to him, but that he did not sense the same visible emotion during the moment on the field.<\/li>\n<li>He also raised the question of why Dhoni did not join his teammates at the ground on match days, despite being involved with the side for years and spending time in the dressing room for fixtures.<\/li>\n<li>Ashwin pointed out that Dhoni could still have come to the stadium even if he wasn\u2019t in the XI, and added that he had seen the veteran practicing in the nets.<\/li>\n<li>He then wondered aloud whether Dhoni stayed away because of the belief that attention would shift toward him and potentially unsettle the team, while also arguing that fans should be allowed to experience the moment fully.<\/li>\n<li>Ashwin concluded that such things are simply part of cricket\u2019s wider fabric\u2014balancing personal circumstances, team focus, and the crowd\u2019s connection to the sport.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Dhoni\u2019s impact at IPL level is undeniable: he is the joint-most successful captain in the league, having lifted the trophy five times. His title-winning leadership came in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023\u2014benchmarks that continue to define his legacy at CSK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chennai Super Kings wrapped up their final home fixture of the IPL 2026 on May 18, but the spotlight on the night was as much&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"1Win India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T13:42:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1205\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arjun Patel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arjun Patel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arjun Patel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\"},\"headline\":\"Dhoni\u2019s Calf Worry Keeps Him Out as CSK Honor Sparks Emotional Claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T13:42:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\"},\"wordCount\":374,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"IPL\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\",\"name\":\"IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T13:42:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\"},\"description\":\"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp\",\"width\":1205,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dhoni\u2019s Calf Worry Keeps Him Out as CSK Honor Sparks Emotional Claims\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/\",\"name\":\"1Win India\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\",\"name\":\"Arjun Patel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arjun Patel\"},\"description\":\"Cricket analyst and sports writer with over 10 years of experience covering international and domestic matches. Specializes in match predictions, player performance analysis, and data-driven insights, with a strong focus on the Indian Premier League\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/author\\\/arjunpatel\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him","description":"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him","og_description":"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.","og_url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims","og_site_name":"1Win India","article_published_time":"2026-05-20T13:42:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1205,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Arjun Patel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arjun Patel","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims"},"author":{"name":"Arjun Patel","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#\/schema\/person\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e"},"headline":"Dhoni\u2019s Calf Worry Keeps Him Out as CSK Honor Sparks Emotional Claims","datePublished":"2026-05-20T13:42:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims"},"wordCount":374,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp","articleSection":["IPL"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims","name":"IPL 2026: Dhoni Calf Injury Update as CSK Skips Him","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-20T13:42:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#\/schema\/person\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e"},"description":"IPL 2026 latest: MS Dhoni calf injury keeps him out of CSK\u2019s XI after home fixture, sparking emotional tributes and honor-filled reactions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/quot-love-visible-quot-india-16f8.webp","width":1205,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/dhonis-calf-worry-keeps-him-out-as-csk-honor-sparks-emotional-claims#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dhoni\u2019s Calf Worry Keeps Him Out as CSK Honor Sparks Emotional Claims"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/","name":"1Win India","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#\/schema\/person\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e","name":"Arjun Patel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arjun Patel"},"description":"Cricket analyst and sports writer with over 10 years of experience covering international and domestic matches. Specializes in match predictions, player performance analysis, and data-driven insights, with a strong focus on the Indian Premier League","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/author\/arjunpatel"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}