IPL 2026: CSK won toss and elect to bowl first against SRH, suspense over MS Dhoni ends; Playing XIs revealed

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and decided to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last home game at Chepauk in the ongoing IPL 2026. Right after winning the toss, Ruturaj Gaikwad ended suspense over MS Dhoni and informed that the legendary wicketkeeper-batter isn't part of CSK's playing XI yet again. However, CSK did make a change to their playing XI as they brought in Akeal Hosein in place of Gurjapneet Singh. On the other hand, SRH didn't tinker with their playing XI in a do-or-die clash.

ALSO READ: PBKS react to claims of dragging Arshdeep Singh throughout IPL 2026 despite fitness concerns

What did the captain say at the toss?

CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, after winning the toss, said:

"We are looking to bat first. Well, it's nothing complicated, it's just simple for us. Take it one game at a time, look to win this one, look to start well, look to assess the conditions well and put your best foot forward. (Asking about the pressure in this game) Well, nothing, not as such, it's just that we have to respect conditions and choose what's the best for the conditions. And yes, I think batting first looks good here now. (Is MS here?) He is not fit enough to play, but you never know if we win this and he comes for the last one. We got just one change. Akeal comes in for Gurjapneet."

ALSO READ: PBKS react to claims of dragging Arshdeep Singh throughout IPL 2026 despite fitness concerns

Meanwhile, SRH skipper Pat Cummins, after losing the toss, said:

" Yeah, it's the tragedy now for us to hopefully qualify. Yeah, we've had about a six-day break, so ready to go. Yeah, that's right. You know, it's T20 cricket, IPL, you've got to kind of buy into a certain style, even if it doesn't work every night and I think our guys have done that really well. But that's your strength. You've got to back your ability. The mood's been great. We know the way we play is probably not going to work every single game, but it's going to be exciting. So, we think it's our best style, so we'll just keep leaning into that aggressiveness. We would have probably had a bowl, but who knows, so not too upset. (Team for today) Same as the last game.."

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI):

Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Spencer Johnson

CSK's impact subs: Mukesh Choudhary, Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Gurjapneet Singh

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI):

Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge

SRH's Impact subs: Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel