Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Mohammad Kaif made a massive claim on MS Dhoni playing as an impact player for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2026. Ad The five-time champions retained MS Dhoni ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Mohammad Kaif ruled out the possibility of the veteran playing as an impact player in the upcoming season. As Dhoni batted way down the order last year, Kaif reckoned that he would play as a keeper and a leader of the side to guide and mentor other players. “Dhoni does not bat anyway. He is playing to keep 20 overs and to captain 20 overs. He is playing to guide the players. He is there to guide Gaikwad. He is playing only for this, as a mentor and captain,” he said on his YouTube channel. Ad Trending While Ruturaj Gaikwad will be the captain, Kaif believed that Gaikwad would be the skipper on paper, while MS Dhoni would continue to run the show from behind the stumps. Therefore, he reckoned that the 44-year-old would rule himself out if he had to, but would not play as an impact player. “On paper, Gaikwad may be the captain, but till Dhoni is on the field, things are in his hands. There is no doubt about what he does. So I do not think he will play as an impact player. Either he will rule himself out, but no chance of him being an impact player,” he added. Ad Dhoni was retained by CSK for ₹4 crore under the uncapped player category before the 2025 season. As Gaikwad was injured and ruled out after five games, Dhoni even took over the captaincy for the remainder of the season. MS Dhoni will keep wickets despite the arrival of Samson, reckons Kaif Chennai Super Kings (CSK) traded in wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson from the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran ahead of the auction. Despite Samson coming in, Mohammad Kaif reckoned that MS Dhoni would continue to keep wickets, at least till the first half of the season. Ad “The era where a keeper could not field is gone. Now in the IPL and Indian cricket, it has all changed. Uthappa kept, Kedar Jadhav kept, KL Rahul also became a keeper. Now 2-3 wicketkeepers play in the XI, even in the Indian team. Sanju Samson will play as a fielder and Dhoni will keep in the starting at least. You need Dhoni on the field for a long time. Samson is not close to Dhoni in wicketkeeping. No one can reach that level. Only Dhoni can do what he does. He will run the game from behind,” he said. MS Dhoni holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the IPL so far. He has 201 dismissals, which include 154 catches and 47 stumpings. While he did not contribute a lot with the bat last season, he effected 11 dismissals from behind the stumps. × Feedback Why did you not like this content? Clickbait / Misleading Factually Incorrect Hateful or Abusive Baseless Opinion Too Many Ads Other Was this article helpful? Thank You for feedback Get real-time updates on IPL 2025, live scores, IPL Prediction, match schedule, points table, Result & squad -CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS Edited by Rishab Vm.
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