India, March 30 -- Chennai Super Kings will be without MS Dhoni for their IPL 2026 opener against Rajasthan Royals on March 30 at the Baraspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. It is set to be one of the biggest moments of IPL 2026, making it worth exploring when the legendary CSK captain and wicketkeeper-batter last missed an IPL match and how many games 'Thala' has skipped since 2008.

MS Dhoni has missed only 5 IPL games overall

It was in the 2019 edition that the 44-year-old last missed an IPL game. He sat out of the contest against the Mumbai Indians on April 26, 2019 hosted by the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, rendering Suresh Raina to take the reins. Dhoni missed that game due to fever but hasn't sat out of any game in any fixtu...