Fleming: Dhoni's return from calf injury delayed by 'setback'

The CSK head coach said that Dhoni pushed himself in a pre-season practice game and tweaked his already injured calf

The delay in MS Dhoni joining Chennai Super Kings on the field is tied to the former captain pushing himself too hard in a pre-season practice game and suffering a setback to an already injured calf.

"The calf is a tough one," CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said after they went down to Gujarat Titans by eight wickets on Sunday. "If he takes off and rips the calf again, then he will be gone [for the whole season]. So we pushed it early. In a warm-up game, he tweaked it again, is my understanding. And since then, he has been just working hard to get some movement into it. But there was a setback."

Dhoni has been with CSK since March and there have been plenty of visuals of him on social media playing practice games and having net sessions. However, he has not played any of CSK's eight matches so far. He hasn't even been at the ground on match days. The 44-year-old has previously played in the IPL with injuries but the current one is taking a little longer to heal than CSK expected.

"But look, he's the guide on this one," Fleming said. "And he's working hard with the physio and doing all the rehab. We're just waiting for the word, really. But all I can keep saying, it's not making light of this, he is progressing and doing everything."

Four days ago, a CSK post on social media featured captain Ruturaj Gaikwad explaining what happened to Dhoni pre-season. "You know, we were playing a practice match. That's when he snapped his calf and then he wasn't able to run as comfortably as he wanted to.

"And I think after that, it was just about, he saw some of the youngsters playing in practice games and playing in match simulations where he felt confident enough on them, you know, who are ready, who have that ability to play in the IPL.

"After that, it was just about taking time on his recovery. Slowly, slowly, he is getting there. Never know, maybe next game, maybe after that, but definitely one day for sure."

CSK are currently sixth on the points table after eight games, with three wins and five losses. They have six games left in IPL 2026, with the next one at home against Mumbai Indians on May 2.