‘Dhoni will come back next season’:CSK CEO adds intrigue to legend’s 2027 availability, Thala’s say in Fleming’s sacking

After making a bold remark about MS Dhoni’s ‘permanent fixture’ with the Chennai Super Kings franchise, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise CEO, Kasi Viswanathan, has added further spice to the wave around Dhoni’s future in the IPL and association with the franchise. When CSK was about to play its last game at Chepauk Stadium on 18 May this year, considering Dhoni’s public remark of playing his last IPL game in Chennai, there were claims that the 44-year-old veteran would hang up his shoes. However, it did not happen, and the Chennai star was absent from action for the whole season. Just when fans thought that Dhoni’s return would be unlikely next year after CSK’s elimination, Kasi Viswanathan has dropped a major update. ‘He will come back next season’: CSK CEO on Dhoni in IPL 2027 Reviving the hopes of the Chennai fans, CSK CEO Kasi Viswathan said on Dhoni’s future and IPL 2027 participation as per Cricbuzz, “My understanding is that he will come back next season. We have not spoken to him about this, but we hope he will come back. We also hope he keeps his promise to the CSK fans that he will play his last IPL game in Chennai.” In the middle of this season, there were discussions about Dhoni. Their final home game was originally scheduled against the Gujarat Titans in Chennai on May 21, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) swapped the venues for the two GT-CSK games because of local elections in Ahmedabad. GT’s Chennai match was rescheduled to April 26, when CSK were due to travel to Ahmedabad. Mid-season venue change upset CSK, Dhoni purposely stayed out of team As per the same report, CSK insiders might not admit it publicly, but the change of venue did upset some calculations, along with Dhoni’s thumb injury. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni had left the decisions regarding the squad and combination to skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and coach Stephen Fleming. That’s why, throughout the season, Dhoni did not interfere in the team changes. Especially Jamie Overton’s performance with the bat and ball, convinced Dhoni to stay out of the team, and that’s why the CSK legend continued the rest of the IPL journey that way. CSK might not sack Stephen Fleming despite horrible IPL 2026 run In addition to the future of Dhoni, there has also been buzz around head coach Stephen Fleming’s future. As per media reports, CSK management has not yet decided on the future of coach Fleming. The CSK owner himself said, “We have not taken a call on any cricketing matters. We will review at some stage.” Viswanathan further said that no contact has been made with Dravid despite all the buzz linked to him. But somewhere in the CSK camp, there is a perception that Fleming himself should make the decision. The New Zealander won five titles and coached CSK to 10 playoff appearances. However, the team has not reached the post-league phase for the last three seasons. Infact, MI (0.681) and CSK (0.775), who have won the IPL title five times, have the worst and second-worst win/loss ratio in the league since 2022. Stephen Fleming coaches Super Kings franchises across leagues As per the Cricbuzz report, Fleming’s IPL remuneration was around USD 700,000 per season. Moreover, he also head-coached the Texas Super Kings in MLC and the Joburg Super Kings in SA20. Currently, the CSK management is expected to pay close to USD 1 million. The MLC begins on June 18, so any major decision might not be made in such a short time, but CSK management will almost certainly take Dhoni into confidence. Moreover, Thala will certainly remain an integral part of the CSK setup, whether or not he continues to play.