Dhoni is currently undergoing rehabilitation for the injury, CSK said in a tweet.
CSK begin their campaign on Monday, against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and will face Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in the first two weeks of the season.
New marquee signing Sanju Samson, who will open the batting alongside captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, is the favourite to take up the wicketkeeping gloves in Dhoni’s absence, but CSK also have other options in Urvil Patel and newbie Kartik Sharma.
While Samson was traded in from RR, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran heading the other way, CSK spent a whopping INR 14.20 crore on rookie Kartik, who impressed with his six-hitting exploits in domestic cricket. Urvil, meanwhile, was retained after he made three appearances last season, striking at 212.50.
Dhoni played all 14 matches last year, batting low down the order and preferring an entry point in the last few overs. He scored 196 runs from 13 innings, striking at 135.17 with a highest score of 30 not out.
With just four wins, CSK finished bottom of the table in 2025 and will be looking for a change in fortunes this year.
They had earlier suffered an injury blow with Australia fast bowler Nathan Ellis ruled out of the entire tournament with a hamstring injury. He has been replaced by his compatriot Spencer Johnson. Johnson has joined a fast-bowling attack headlined by Matt Henry, with Khaleel Ahmed, Gurjapneet Singh, Zak Foulkes, Anshul Kamboj, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton and Mukesh Choudhary the other frontline options, as well as batting allrounder Shivam Dube.
CSK likely best XII: 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Ayush Mhatre/Urvil Patel/Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Dewald Brevis*, 6 Kartik Sharma, 7 Prashant Veer, 8 Jamie Overton*/Akeal Hosein*, 9 Matt Henry*, 10 Noor Ahmad*, 11 Khaleel Ahmed, 12 Anshul Kamboj/Ramakrishna Ghosh
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