IPL 2026: MS Dhoni makes stunning declaration about his future in CSK

Chennai Super Kings legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a huge declaration. If things go in the right direction as they think, Dhoni will not be spotted in the leadership role. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be back as their captain.

Last season, in IPL 2025, Ruturaj was the captain of Chennai Super Kings, but an elbow fracture ruled him out from the rest of the tournament. In a quick response to control the situation, CSK management managed to get Dhoni to lead the team again. But, in the upcoming season, Gaikwad will be back with his leadership duties.

"We are slightly worried about our batting order. But I think our batting order is quite sorted out now. Rutu (Gaikwad) will be coming back [as captain]. He got injured. But he will be coming back. So, we are quite sorted now. I won't say we (CSK) slacked off (in IPL 2025). But there were certain holes that we needed to plug in. A small auction is coming in December. Some loopholes are there, and we will try to plug those in,” said Dhoni during a private function in Chennai.

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Lackluster batting performance emerged as one of CSK'smajor concerns in the previous season. The management probably identified the weak spots, and during the auction, they will try to fill up those gaps. 

They'll figure out their strategy first

Without any hesitation, Dhoni said that their last couple of stints were unimpressive. The 44-year-old talked about learning from those grey spots. 

"Yes, the last couple of years have not been good for us. We have not been up to the mark. But what is important is for you to see the learnings. Yes, you had a bad season. But what went wrong? And that was the question for us last year also. We were like, 'Okay, there are some shortcomings.' But first we needed to exactly figure out what the shortcomings were and then look at solutions," he added.