MS Dhoni likely to travel with CSK team to Lucknow, doubts persist over return

Former Indian skipper and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni is likely to travel to Lucknow. The 44-year-old hasn’t been able to play this owing to a calf injury. Cricbuzz reported that the veteran star may travel with the rest of the CSK side for the game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday. 

As per the reports carried by Cricbuzz, Kasi Viswanath, who is the CEO of the franchise, has confirmed that a flight ticket has been booked for the team’s former skipper. Ruturaj Gaikwad and his team are currently fifth in the points and still have three matches left this season. 

The former champions could go fourth in the table if they beat LSG and also hope that the Mumbai Indians can do them a favour by beating the Punjab Kings on Thursday night. The final two league games of the IPL 2026 season for the Super Kings are a home fixture against SRH and an away game in Ahmedabad against the Gujarat Titans. 

Karnataka star replaces Ramkrishna Ghosh 

Men in Yellow have announced Macneill Hadley Noronha as the replacement for the injured all-rounder Ramkrishna Ghosh. 24-year-old Noronha is a hard-hitting batter and a useful off-spin bowler who has made his name with some decent performances in the shortest format of the game. 

Ghosh, had made his IPL debut against Mumbai, had injured his foot during the game which ruled him out for the season. Macneill has played three T20 games so far for Karnataka and scored 58 runs with the bat with a strike-rate of 161 and has taken one wicket with the ball. 

Lucknow is looking to pose a serious challenge 

Rishabh Pant and his side lost to the five-time champions in the fixture that was played in Chennai on Sunday. The Super Giants scored 203 runs on the board with Josh Inglis scoring 85 runs. Urvil Patel’s quickfire 65 and late-order flourish from Prashant Veer and Shivam Dube saw the home team take home a key win. 

That loss put the Super Giants out of contention for a place in the playoffs. With a handful of games left in the season, Pant will be hoping that his side can play fearless cricket and put pressure on their much-fancied opponents. Fans in Lucknow and across will be waiting for their first glimpse of MS Dhoni this season and hope the former skipper can finally make his return.