{"id":170672,"date":"2026-05-22T00:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=170672"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:20:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:50:46","slug":"ipl-2026-dhoni-will-make-decision-in-best-interest-of-csk-simons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=170672","title":{"rendered":"IPL 2026: Dhoni will make decision in best interest of CSK \u2014 Simons"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Chennai Super Kings bowling coach Eric Simons said Mahendra Singh Dhoni alone will decide on his comeback, stressing that the veteran wicketkeeper-batter would only return if he felt fully fit and ready to contribute to the team.<\/p>\n

Dhoni, 44, couldn\u2019t play a single game in this edition due to a leg injury but Simons said he impressed in the nets with his clean striking.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you seriously asking me that question? We always are,\u201d Simons said when asked if CSK are hopeful of Dhoni\u2019s availability next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, honestly, he has hit the ball so well. He obviously had a leg injury, which made it very difficult for him to run, so that\u2019s why he couldn\u2019t play.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in terms of hitting the ball in the nets, he\u2019s hitting it as well as I\u2019ve ever seen him hit it. But I keep saying this, only MS will know, and MS will make the decision about when he\u2019s ready and when he\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former South Africa all-rounder said Dhoni would always prioritise the team\u2019s interest over personal milestones.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I tell you what, if he knows he\u2019s not, he won\u2019t play. But if he is right, he will. He\u2019ll make the decision in the best interest of the team and not for himself as an individual.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it will be great to have him playing. It\u2019s been great just having him around the unit and being someone to tap into for knowledge and calmness,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Also read | Is this the end? Why CSK legend MS Dhoni\u2019s IPL career is likely over<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Inconsistent fielding\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Simons said the team put in a lot of effort in fielding but admitted that fielding hasn\u2019t been consistent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a great question. I was actually literally just talking to Matthew Hayden about that. We\u2019ve actually practised a lot of fielding this year, but I think throughout the tournament we\u2019ve seen some incredibly brilliant catches and some incredibly easy catches dropped, which is quite strange,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what teams do about that, and how one goes away with that and works on it, is to be decided by the fielding coaches. But we have put a lot of work into our fielding this year. There\u2019s always improvements that can be made. But again, we take some great catches, and then we drop some that surprise us. But that\u2019s been throughout the tournament, I think,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

CSK ended the season at the seventh spot with 12 points following the massive 89 run loss to Gujarat Titans on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Simons said one of the biggest positives for CSK this season was the growing understanding within the squad about its balance and individual roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the positives come around the fact that we started getting an understanding of ourselves as a unit. I think that\u2019s an important part of winning an IPL, is that you get your balance right, and you have a side that can carry itself through, and your changes are made a long way before the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot because someone\u2019s out of form, but because you\u2019re moving into a particular condition. So we know ourselves a lot better as a unit, and we also know a lot of the individuals better, as to what they can and can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone like Kartik has come along magnificently this season. We know what he\u2019s about, Urvil, we know what he\u2019s about. Obviously, the established players, we\u2019ve always known who they were and what they are. But I do know that we\u2019ve come away from this tournament understanding ourselves as a unit better, and that stands us in good stead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published on May 22, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Chennai Super Kings bowling coach Eric Simons said Mahendra Singh Dhoni alone will decide on his comeback, stressing that the veteran wicketkeeper-batter would only return if he felt fully fit and ready to contribute to the team. Dhoni, 44, couldn\u2019t play a single game in this edition due to a leg injury but Simons said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779429046_DSC_4842.JPG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgnRh4-IoM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=170672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/170673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=170672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=170672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=170672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}