Chennai Super Kings (CSK) veteran batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is slowly recovering from a calf injury, but has not come with the team to Delhi, where CSK will face Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday. Chennai Super Kings bowling consultant Eric Simmons confirmed that Mahi has not come to New Delhi with the team. “It is beyond my jurisdiction to give any update about Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is not with us, but is slowly recovering. He will play when he is completely ready to play, he himself knows when he is ready to play. He has not come here (Delhi) with the team,” he said in the pre-match press conference.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not played a single match in IPL 2026 so far. Mahi played 14 matches in IPL 2025, in which he could score 196 runs at an average of 24.50. CSK has played 9 matches so far this season, winning 4 matches and is at sixth position in the points table. Chennai Super Kings will have to win at least four of their remaining matches to remain in the race for the playoffs. One good thing for CSK is that captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has been in great form in the last two matches, playing unbeaten innings of 74 and 67 runs respectively.

Praising the captain, Eric Simmons said, “We have a very clear vision of our leadership group, and he is a clear leader of the team. It was just a matter of time when he started scoring runs. He has played some difficult innings because our team was in trouble at that time. The pitches were very difficult, but he faced those difficulties. I think that is the true mark of a great batsman, that he not only scores runs on good pitches, but also on difficult pitches. Score runs on pitches too.” He said, “He (Gaikwad) is such a player who scores 50 runs in 22 balls and you don’t even know. We are starting to see that side of him again. Leadership has always been there in him. He has always been a captain. It is good that he is scoring runs now, but there was never any doubt that he would not score runs.”