MS Dhoni involved in CSK's IPL 2026 player trials: Report
What's the story
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the five-time IPL champions, have started their preparations for the upcoming Indian Premier League mini-auctions. The team is holding a five-day trial camp at its High Performance Center on the outskirts of Chennai. Head coach Stephen Fleming and fielding coach Rajiv Kumar are overseeing the camp, which has between 40-50 players in attendance, as per News18. Former CSK captain MS Dhoni is also closely involved in this process.
Strategic shift
CSK eyeing Indian batters at trials
After finishing at the bottom of the standings last season and failing to qualify for the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, CSK is looking to strengthen its batting lineup. The majority of players in the trials are batters. This comes after a disappointing IPL season where CSK failed to qualify for the playoffs. The franchise is also eyeing an Indian batter who has fallen down the pecking order but it isn't clear if he attended these trials which will end on Saturday.
Transfer talks
What about Samson to CSK rumors?
There have been rumors of Sanju Samson leaving Rajasthan Royals and joining CSK. However, neither franchise has confirmed the speculation. The deal is likely to not materialize as the wicketkeeper-batter is expected to enter the auction pool. Legendary Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin had earlier said that trading players like Ravindra Jadeja or Shivam Dube isn't something CSK usually does, making a potential transfer of Samson unlikely.
Views
Ashwin's views on why CSK-RR trade won't work
"Why the CSK-RR trade won't work is because if Sanju is traded to CSK, and RR then try to trade with other teams, they're unlikely to get valuable players in return," Ashwin had said on his YouTube channel. "CSK generally don't believe in trading. They aren't going to trade players like Ravindra Jadeja or Shivam Dube. So, in all likelihood, Sanju coming to CSK is bleak, for the reasons I've explained. RR don't have much to gain from this kind of trade," he added.