CSK bowling coach Eric Simons left the door open for MS Dhoni’s return in IPL 2027, while making it clear that the final call will rest entirely with the former captain himself.
Dhoni missed the entirety of IPL 2026, but Simons said the veteran wicketkeeper-batter looked sharp in training sessions and has been struck the ball as cleanly as ever in the nets.
However, he stressed that Dhoni’s comeback would depend on his own assessment of fitness and readiness.
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“Are you seriously asking me that question? We always are. I mean, honestly, he has hit the ball so well. He obviously had a leg injury, which made it very difficult for him to run, so that’s why he couldn’t play. But in terms of hitting the ball in the nets, he’s hitting it as well as I’ve ever seen him hit it. But I keep saying this, only MS will know, and MS will make the decision about when he’s ready and when he’s right.”
“And I tell you what, if he knows he’s not, he won’t play. But if he is right, he will. He’ll make the decision in the best interest of the team and not for himself as an individual. But it will be great to have him playing. It’s been great just having him around the unit and being someone to tap into for knowledge and calmness,” Simons said in the post-match presentation.
Simons reflected on the evolution of the team’s identity over the course of the season and pointed to the performances of younger players like Kartik Sharma and Urvil Patel, adding that they had come a long way in knowing themselves as a group.
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“I think a lot of the positives come around the fact that we started getting an understanding of ourselves as a unit. I think that’s an important part of winning an IPL, is that you get your balance right, and you have a side that can carry itself through, and your changes are made a long way before the game. Not because someone’s out of form, but because you’re moving into a particular condition. So we know ourselves a lot better as a unit, and we also know a lot of the individuals better, as to what they can and can’t do.”
“Someone like Kartik has come along magnificently this season. We know what he’s about, Urvil, we know what he’s about. Obviously, the established players, we’ve always known who they were and what they are. But I do know that we’ve come away from this tournament understanding ourselves as a unit better, and that stands us in good stead,” he added.
The South African admitted that fielding remained an inconsistent area for the team, despite significant work done on it during the season. He said he had discussed the issue with Matthew Hayden, noting that while the side had spent considerable time on fielding drills, the returns on the field were mixed.
“That’s a great question. I was actually literally just talking to Matthew Hayden about that. We’ve actually practised a lot of fielding this year, but I think throughout the tournament we’ve seen some incredibly brilliant catches and some incredibly easy catches dropped, which is quite strange. So what teams do about that, and how one goes away with that and works on it, is to be decided by the fielding coaches. But we have put a lot of work into our fielding this year. There’s always improvements that can be made. But again, we take some great catches, and then we drop some that surprise us. But that’s been throughout the tournament, I think,” he said.
