{"id":12048,"date":"2026-05-03T07:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/ipl-2026-ms-dhoni-can-surprise-r-ashwin-gives-major-update-before-csk-vs-mi-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T07:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:33:16","slug":"ipl-2026-ms-dhoni-can-surprise-r-ashwin-gives-major-update-before-csk-vs-mi-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/ipl-2026-ms-dhoni-can-surprise-r-ashwin-gives-major-update-before-csk-vs-mi-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026: &#8216;MS Dhoni can surprise&#8217; &#8211; R Ashwin gives major update before CSK vs MI | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130715045,imgsize-33476,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/ms-dhoni.jpg\" alt=\"IPL 2026: 'MS Dhoni can surprise' - R Ashwin gives major update before CSK vs MI\" title=\"MS Dhoni (BCCI Photo)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Former Indian spinner <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/ravichandran-ashwin\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Ravichandran Ashwin<\/a> has ruled out MS Dhoni\u2019s return for <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/chennai-super-kings\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Chennai Super Kings<\/a>\u2019 big IPL 2026 clash against <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/mumbai-indians\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Mumbai Indians<\/a> at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>Dhoni has not played a single game this season because he is recovering from a calf injury, and fans were hoping he would finally return for one of the tournament\u2019s biggest rivalries.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"wLCOS vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"ap_Bf\">\n<div class=\"ZM4zO\">\n<p><i class=\"bo2C4\"\/> <span>Watch<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <!-- -->Kumar Sangakkara on RR\u2019s win over Punjab Kings<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>Earlier, CSK batting coach Michael Hussey had said Dhoni was \u201cpretty close\u201d to returning, which raised excitement among supporters.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>However, Ashwin feels the former India captain is unlikely to feature in the match. He also believes Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, may continue to remain unavailable.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said, \u201cI don\u2019t know about Rohit Sharma, but Dhoni won\u2019t play 100 percent, I don\u2019t think so. <!-- -->He can surprise as well because he\u2019s that kind of guy, but I don\u2019t think Dhoni will play.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>He further added, \u201cI think Rohit will also not play, but it is a good chance for Suryakumar Yadav to come back in form because he\u2019ll not get a better wicket for batting.\u201d Ashwin believes the Chepauk pitch could be excellent for batting, giving struggling batters like Suryakumar a strong chance to regain confidence.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3>Ashwin backs Sarfaraz Khan at No. 3<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>Apart from discussing injuries, Ashwin also shared his thoughts on Chennai Super Kings\u2019 batting order. He said CSK should continue giving Sarfaraz Khan a fixed role at No. 3 after Ayush Mhatre was ruled out of the tournament because of injury.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>According to Ashwin, Sarfaraz has been one of Chennai\u2019s best performers this season and deserves stability in the lineup.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>\u201cI am saying just one thing, Chennai should lock Sarfaraz Khan to No. 3. Don\u2019t keep him in impact because he has been your best batter this season apart from Sanju Samson. So, fix him at No. 3,\u201d Ashwin said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"33\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-type=\"in_view\" class=\"  \">\n<div class=\"sQLTU timeline_pollWrapper_as  \" data-scrollga=\"scroll#poll_view\">\n<div>\n<p>Poll<\/p>\n<p>Do you agree with the claim  by Ashwin about locking Sarfaraz Khan at No. 3?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026\/ipl-2026-ms-dhoni-can-surprise-r-ashwin-gives-major-update-before-csk-vs-mi\/articleshow\/130714781.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW DELHI: Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has ruled out MS Dhoni\u2019s return for Chennai Super Kings\u2019 big IPL 2026 clash against Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.Dhoni has not played a single game this season because he is recovering from a calf injury, and fans were hoping he would finally return [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}