Kamal Ghorui
The 19th edition of the IPL is scheduled to begin on March 28, with franchises already starting their training camps in preparation for the tournament. Players who were part of the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup are also set to join their respective teams soon.
With Dhoni set to represent CSK once again in IPL 2026, questions had been raised about whether the veteran would feature in all the games given his age. However, Kasi dismissed those concerns, saying, “He will play all the matches, according to me.”
When asked about the role Dhoni might take in the team, especially with another keeper-batter like Sanju Samson in the squad, Kasi said the decision would rest with the cricketing staff.
“That I cannot say. That is a cricketing decision which will be taken by the cricketing staff. Not by the administrative staff. So they will decide whether he is going to play as a batsman or as a wicketkeeper-batter, or as an impact player.”
The tournament schedule is expected to be announced soon, taking into account the electoral process set to take place in the country. Kasi confirmed that the five-time champions will play all their home games in Chennai.
“We are supposed to play only in Tamil Nadu only. So we are waiting for the schedule to be announced by the BCCI.”
Kasi also expressed his delight over India’s T20 World Cup triumph and praised CSK players Samson and Shivam Dube for their contributions during the campaign.
“We are very happy that India has won the World Cup, that too they’ve won it back-to-back. We are delighted because two of the CSK players, Sanju and Shivam Dube, have performed extremely well. It gives us a lot of confidence in the team doing well for CSK here also,” he said.
Speaking about the preparations at the training camp, Kasi added, “Practice is going on well, no problems so far.”
