The 41-year-old former India skipper apparently suffered left knee pain during a training session in Chennai and failed to strike at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera when CSK netted on Thursday.
When the CEO of CSK Kasi Viswanthan was asked, he told PTI, “As far as I’m concerned the skipper is playing 100%. I’m not aware of any further developments.”
07:03
It’s MS Dhoni vs Hardik Pandya in the IPL 2023 blockbuster opener
In case Dhoni does not play, then CSK could request one of the Devon Conway or Ambati Rayudu to keep the wickets, as they don’t have a specialist stumper in their ranks.
Dhoni trains a lot before the season, but to conserve his energy, he normally doesn’t train a lot at the start of the tournament.
At his age, it doesn’t take long for a pip to worsen and become more serious, taking longer than usual to heal.
With so many back-to-back trips and matches, there remains a possibility that Dhoni doesn’t like to risk playing and missing more matches in the later stages of the tournament.
However, the Jharkhand shooter is not known to miss games and has managed to overcome many issues including back issues.
