{"id":687611,"date":"2026-05-22T15:55:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687611\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:55:27","slug":"only-ms-will-know-but-csk-coach-drops-big-hint-on-dhonis-ipl-future-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687611\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Only MS will know, but…\u2019: CSK coach drops big hint on Dhoni\u2019s IPL future | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u2018OnlyMS Dhoni with Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: The future of MS Dhoni in the IPL remains one of cricket\u2019s biggest talking points, and Chennai Super Kings<\/a> bowling coach Eric Simons<\/a> has now made it clear that only the legendary former captain himself will decide whether he returns next season.Speaking after CSK\u2019s final league game against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, Simons revealed that the 44-year-old wicketkeeper-batter is still striking the ball brilliantly in the nets despite struggling with a leg injury that ruled him out of IPL 2026 action. \u201cAre you seriously asking me that question? We always are,\u201d Simons said when asked whether CSK were hopeful of Dhoni\u2019s return next year.\u201cHe has hit the ball so well. He obviously had a leg injury, which made it very difficult for him to run, so that\u2019s why he couldn\u2019t play,\u201d he said.\u2018He\u2019s hitting it as well as I\u2019ve ever seen\u2019Even though Dhoni did not feature in a single match this season, Simons insisted the veteran\u2019s power-hitting remains as sharp as ever.\u201cBut in terms of hitting the ball in the nets, he\u2019s hitting it as well as I\u2019ve ever seen him hit it,\u201d the former South Africa all-rounder said.The comments are likely to excite CSK fans, many of whom continue to hope that Dhoni has one final IPL season left in him after missing the entire 2026 campaign due to fitness concerns.Simons, however, stressed that Dhoni would only return if he genuinely felt capable of contributing fully to the team.\u201cBut I keep saying this, only MS will know, and MS will make the decision about when he\u2019s ready and when he\u2019s right,\u201d he added.\u2018He won\u2019t play if he feels he\u2019s not ready\u2019According to Simons, Dhoni\u2019s decision will never be driven by emotion or personal milestones.\u201cAnd I tell you what, if he knows he\u2019s not, he won\u2019t play. But if he is right, he will,\u201d Simons said. \u201cHe\u2019ll make the decision in the best interest of the team and not for himself as an individual.\u201dDespite not playing this season, Dhoni remained closely involved with the squad throughout the campaign, continuing to mentor younger players inside the CSK setup.\u201cBut it will be great to have him playing. It\u2019s been great just having him around the unit and being someone to tap into for knowledge and calmness,\u201d Simons added.Dhoni\u2019s absence was felt heavily during a disappointing IPL 2026 campaign for CSK, who crashed out of playoff contention after suffering their biggest-ever defeat in IPL history against Gujarat Titans.<\/p>\n

Do you think MS Dhoni can still perform at a high level?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MS Dhoni with Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: The future of MS Dhoni…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,43215,740,331198,331200,331199,331203,331202,331197,331201,31775,331196,85],"class_list":["post-687611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chennai-super-kings","tag-cricket","tag-csk-coaching-insights","tag-csk-playoff-results","tag-dhoni-fitness-update","tag-dhoni-mentorship-role","tag-eric-simons","tag-eric-simons-comments-on-dhoni","tag-gujarat-titans-match-summary","tag-ipl-2026","tag-ms-dhoni-ipl-future","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}