Chennai await Dhoni return as wounded Gujarat eye comeback after RCB loss

Sunday at Chepauk carries a charge that has been building for twenty-five days. MS Dhoni has been spotted in full-intensity training at the Anbuden nets and the medical staff have signalled he is nearing full fitness, and that single piece of information has turned a mid-table IPL fixture into the most talked-about match of the weekend.

Chennai Super Kings host Gujarat Titans in a game that was originally scheduled for Ahmedabad before local municipal elections in Gujarat forced the switch, an unexpected home-ground advantage for CSK that has coincided perfectly with the timing of their most significant team news of the season.

CSK vs GT: The return of MS Dhoni everyone has been waiting for

MS Dhoni has missed the first seven matches of IPL 2026 with the calf strain that was confirmed on the morning of the season opener.

In his absence Ruturaj Gaikwad has led with composure and the team has found its footing, three wins from seven, a climb to fifth in the table, and Sanju Samson's unbeaten 101 off 54 against Mumbai Indians in their most recent outing being the performance of the season so far for the franchise.

CSK are not a side in crisis. But the noise that will greet MS Dhoni's name at the toss if he is confirmed in the XI on Sunday will be louder than anything Chepauk has produced this season, and both teams know it.

The reading of the game behind the stumps, the ice-cold decision-making in the final overs, is what Gaikwad's captaincy has been missing rather than needing, and what GT's middle order will face if MS Dhoni takes the field.

CSK vs GT: What Gujarat Titans are carrying into this match after defeat against RCB

Gujarat Titans arrive at Chepauk in seventh place, equal on points with CSK but separated by a significant NRR gap, their minus 0.790 a reflection of the 99-run demolition by Mumbai Indians earlier in the tournament.

The defeat to RCB on Friday added a different kind of damage. Posting 205 for 3 at the Chinnaswamy and losing by five wickets with seven balls to spare is the kind of result that raises hard questions about a bowling attack.

Rashid Khan went for 49 from four overs and Kagiso Rabada for 45, two of the most reliable bowlers in T20 cricket having their worst nights of the season on the same evening. Shubman Gill needs answers from both of them on a Chepauk surface that will behave very differently from the Chinnaswamy.

The batting has Sai Sudharsan in the form of his life, 100 off 58 against RCB, the fastest player to reach 2,000 IPL runs in 47 innings breaking Chris Gayle's record, and that individual brilliance gives GT a threat that no side in the competition can afford to take lightly. Whether the bowling around him can hold a CSK batting lineup that has been clicking in Chennai is the question the Titans need to answer.

Also READ: Here's why BCCI swaps GT vs CSK fixtures for April 26 and May 21

CSK vs GT: What the match means for both Chennai and Gujarat

CSK and GT are level on six points with identical win-loss records of three and four. The NRR separates them and a victory for either side pushes them towards the playoff picture more clearly than anything else between now and the end of the league phase.

For CSK the combination of home conditions, a returning MS Dhoni and the momentum of the Mumbai win makes this a match they will approach as favourites.

For GT it is a test of character after two consecutive defeats, a chance to show the Titans of the first half of the season are still in there. Chepauk on Sunday. The loudest crowd of the IPL 2026 season. And possibly the return of the man the yellow army has been waiting twenty-five days to see.