'MS Dhoni Will Bat At 3 In IPL 2026 And...'? R Ashwin Makes Bold Claim

Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was associated with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025, has made a bold claim about legendary wicketkeeper-batter Mahendra Singh Dhoni. According to Ashwin, Dhoni, who has kicked off his preparations for the 2026 edition of the world’s richest franchise league this week, will bat at No. 3 for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026.

Amid uncertainty over his participation in IPL 2026 due to age and also the acquisition of Sanju Samson via trade, Dhoni started his preparations for IPL 2026 in Ranchi earlier this week.

After several pictures and videos of Dhoni batting in the nets went viral on the internet, Ashwin talked about Dhoni in his recent YouTube video and stated that he looks like he will come out to

bat at No. 3 and make the most of powerplay overs for CSK.

“Dhoni looks set to play, as he has already started practising. He’s looking fit. Some said he may not play in the 11, or this might be his last season. But it looks like he got motivated seeing Imran Tahir. Looking at him, it doesn’t look like he’ll bat at No. 9. He looks like he’ll come out to bat at No. 3 in the Powerplay and be the enforcer, the way he has begun practice,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Talking about CSK’s squad for IPL 2026, Ashwin said they have a very strong batting line-up which includes the likes of Ayush Mhatre, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube, among others, and it will be difficult for their opponents to stop them.

“They’ve scouted very well and boast a powerhouse of a batting lineup. With Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Karthik Sharma, and Prashant Veer in a batting lineup, barring the inexperience in the last two, you ask, ‘How are teams going to stop this batting lineup?’ Even a 200 to 200 becomes really difficult for teams to stop CSK,” added Ashwin.

“Even Jamie Overton is going great guns. Only the combination CSK decides to go with is to be seen. Ayush Mhatre, irrespective of what happens in the U-19 World Cup, will deliver in the IPL. CSK’s batting is a tough one to stop. If they get the combination and momentum right, that is a batting lineup that’s really going to make work very difficult for bowlers around the tournament,” he added.

CSK’s squad for IPL 2026: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dube, Urvil Patel (WK), Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma (WK), Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes