Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have not had the kind of start to the IPL 2026 that they would’ve liked. CSK has lost all three games they’ve played thus far and has been completely outplayed in all of them.

Their most recent loss came at the hands of rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 5 in Bengaluru. RCB posted 250/3 after being asked to bat first, with Tim David top-scoring with a 25-ball 70*. In response, Sarfaraz Khan’s 50 was the best score for CSK as RCB bowled them out for 207 runs, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking three wickets, and won the game by 43 runs.

CSK will next face DC at home in Chennai on April 11, and all eyes will be on the return of MS Dhoni and South Africa’s Dewald Brevis. Dhoni suffered a calf strain and has not been part of the CSK XI, while Brevis suffered a side strain before the opening game against RR in Guwahati and has been recuperating.

And now the Indian Express has reported that the mercurial ex-CSK captain MS Dhoni is likely to have a fitness test in the next couple of days, and if he passes it, he will take the field against Delhi at Chepauk.

The 44-year-old has not been traveling with the squad to away games and was also absent from Chepauk's home game against Punjab Kings last Friday. While he has regularly attended team training sessions, he has not been able to travel to the stadium on match days due to protocol.

In addition to training, Dhoni had a lengthy batting session at the MAC B venue prior to the Punjab match. He batted painlessly on the practice fields in the main stadium on the eve of the game as well. However, the CSK management is in no hurry to bring Dhoni back.

Now coming to Dewald Brevis, he traveled to Guwahati with the CSK team and also to Bengaluru, but wasn’t picked in the XI as he was still not 100 percent match fit. Following the defeat to RCB, head coach Stephen Fleming stated that Brevis is getting closer to making a comeback.

“We hope he is going to be right for the next game. We have five days between the next game. We have been conservative, and hopefully, these next five days will go as well as we have planned, and he is ready to go. "It's a big loss, but we are looking forward to getting him back,” Fleming said.

CSK are at the bottom of the IPL 2026 points table with zero points to their name thus far.