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Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in what is a crucial late-season fixture for both sides.
Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss to a deafening roar from the Chepauk crowd and made the decision to bat without hesitation, the first time the captain winning the toss in Chennai has chosen to bat first in IPL 2026. His reasoning was straightforward: the wicket looks dry with no dew expected and posting a score feels like the smarter play given the conditions. He wants anything around 200 on the board.
CSK vs SRH: The MS Dhoni update everyone was waiting for
MS Dhoni came to the Chepauk ground on matchday for the first time in IPL 2026, a development that sent the Chennai faithful into a frenzy of speculation about whether this was finally the night. It was not.
Gaikwad confirmed at the toss that Dhoni is not fit enough to play tonight, dashing hopes of the comeback that fans have been waiting for all season. However Gaikwad left a tantalising door open, "You never know if we win this and he comes for the last one," he said, suggesting Dhoni's final IPL appearance could come in the very last league game if CSK can secure a win tonight and give him a send-off worth watching.
His presence at the ground for the first time this season suggests he is getting closer and the medical team may be satisfied enough with his progress to allow him to be near the action even if he cannot yet take the field.
CSK vs SRH: The one change Chennai Super Kings have made
CSK have made one change from their previous game with Akeal Hosein coming in for Gurjapneet Singh, adding a spin option to the attack that suits the dry Chepauk surface Gaikwad described at the toss. SRH are unchanged, Pat Cummins confirmed the same eleven that played their last game, arriving in Chennai fresh from a rest period with what the Australian captain described as a great mood in the camp.
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CSK vs SRH: What the captains said at Toss
Gaikwad was focused and pragmatic. He acknowledged that the early overs at Chepauk have been difficult to bat through in this season's games at the venue, with the ball doing enough to make scoring a challenge in the powerplay before the surface flattens out completely.
His message was simple, respect the conditions, start well, assess well and build toward something around 200 that puts pressure on SRH to chase. Cummins on the other hand admitted he would have preferred to bowl first but remained upbeat, pointing to the rest his side has had and the positive atmosphere in the SRH camp as reasons for confidence.
CSK vs SRH Playing XIs
CSK: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Matt Henry.
SRH: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain.
CSK vs SRH Impact Players
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Travis Head, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel
Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Mukesh Choudhary, Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Gurjapneet Singh
