After beating Mumbai Indians (MI) by eight wickets, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have travelled to Delhi to face Axar Patel’s Delhi Capitals (DC) on May 5. However, CSK have reached Delhi without their legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni who is yet to recover from calf injury.
"He should be available at some stage," a senior team official told Cricbuzz.
CSK are currently in sixth place with four wins from nine games. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side have five more games left in the season, more if they reach the playoffs.
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Dhoni without a game for almost a year
Dhoni has not played a single game this season. Earlier, it was reported that Dhoni had recovered from his injury but reluctant to come in and take a youngster’s spot in the current team combination. However, head coach Stephen Fleming, in a press conference said that Dhoni is yet to regain full fitness. In addition, CSK batting coach Michael Hussey revealed that Dhoni does not come to the ground as he does not want the focus to be taken away from the game.
Dhoni has not played a game for nearly a year. His last appearance in the IPL was on May 25 against Gujarat Titans (GT). The clouds of uncertainty continue to loom over Dhoni’s availability this season.
CSK’s injury list gets longer -
Before the season even started, Nathan Ellis suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the tournament. He was replaced by Spencer Johnson who is yet to play a game this season.
Within a short span of time, Khaleel Ahmed and Ayush Mhatre got injured as well. They've been ruled out of the tournament too. Mhatre has been replaced by Akash Madhwal.
The latest entrant on the list is young Ramakrishna Ghosh who made his IPL debut against Mumbai Indians (MI) on May 2. He claimed the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav and conceded 24 runs from three overs. Ghosh sustained a right leg fracture and will not take further part in the tournament.
Last month, former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had raised questions on CSK’s injury management as a number of players have suffered injuries of late.