Mhatre set to miss few games; no clarity on Dhoni's return

Ayush Mhatre is set to miss a few games for Chennai Super Kings following a hamstring injury during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Cricbuzz understands that the 18-year-old batter will undergo scans on Monday (April 20) to determine the extent of his injury, which will further determine his participation.

Batting at No. 3, Mhatre looked in good touch in the game against SRH but while attempting to take a quick second, he was seen clutching his left hamstring. He required on-field attention a couple of times before he got out, and on his way back, Ramakrishna Ghosh and the physio Tommy Simsek helped him off the field.

"Obviously it is a hamstring tear. I don't know how bad it is," batting coach Michael Hussey said after the game. "They will scan him tomorrow, or the next day I'm not sure. But yeah, looks pretty bad unfortunately. He's going to be a big loss, because he's been in really nice touch for us. He's an exciting young talent but it's going to give someone else an opportunity. That's exciting as well: we have some really good players who haven't been able to get that opportunity. It's going to be exciting for one of those guys."

CSK will play their next game against Mumbai Indians on April 23 at the Wankhede stadium.

CSK are also on the look out for a replacement for Khaleel Ahmed, who was ruled out of the competition due to a right quadriceps injury. Akash Madhwal, the former MI pacer, attended CSK's trials in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Rajvardhan Hangargekar will attend a trial with the CSK team in Mumbai.

The CSK squad is already in Mumbai ahead of their next game and MS Dhoni is with the team. There is, however, no clarity over the return of the veteran wicketkeeper-batter, who has missed all of CSK's games in IPL 2026 so far as he is still recovering from calf strain.

"Not really, I'm not sure," said Hussey about Dhoni's possible return. "He's progressing nicely with his rehab, and I'm happy with how he's batting."

"It's just about progressing with his running, because if he's going to bat towards the back end of the innings, he'll need to be able to run quick singles and twos. He just needs to build confidence in his running and improve his speed. I don't know when he'll play, but I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later, like all the fans."