“They’ll fool fans with some video of him in the nets”

Former Team India captain Kris Srikkanth slammed the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for their mishandling of the entire MS Dhoni injury situation during IPL 2026. The Men in Yellow were eliminated from the playoff race after suffering an 89-run loss to the Gujarat Titans (GT) in their final league stage outing.

Meanwhile, Dhoni did not take the field in any of the 14 matches after suffering a calf injury just before the start of the season. Yet the CSK management consistently signaled the 44-year-old’s return at any point during the season, to no avail.

Talking about the Dhoni injury situation and his future, Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel (26:17):

“They kept saying he’ll be ready for the next match. After that, they’ll fool fans with some video of him in the nets. Then they kept saying he reinjured himself. They should first stop all this foolishness. Instead, you should have just said Dhoni is not going to play the entire season.”

He added:

“If you did that, fans would have been mentally prepared. Ruturaj Gaikwad kept saying the big man will be available next match. That’s where the management and captain should have been forthright. If they just said he won’t play the full season, the fans would have agreed and moved on.”

“To be honest, nobody is missing Dhoni in the matches. They only ask why he’s not there in the dressing room. But other than that, nobody asking why he’s not playing in the matches. The Dhoni era is over.”

Dhoni also endured a poor 2025 IPL season, averaging under 25 at a strike rate of only 135.17.

“Your processes are all 15 to 20 year-old ones” – Kris Srikkanth on CSK’s support staff

Kris Srikkanth criticized CSK’s support staff, especially head coach Stephen Fleming, after the side’s unceremonious IPL 2026 campaign. The Men in Yellow have now missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, following the triumphant 2023 season.

“Fleming keeps mentioning process. Your processes are all 15 to 20-year-old ones. Things have changed, be it coaching or approach to the game. But CSK has not changed at all. Eric Simmons should have been relegated to the shed long time back,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

In this stretch, CSK also finished at the bottom of the table for the first time in league history in IPL 2025.