The Chennai Super Kings are already playing their third game of the season, yet there is no trace of fan-favorite MS Dhoni thus far. On Sunday, the five-time IPL champions travelled to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to lock horns with the defending champions in their sole group-stage meeting of the season. While the Royal Challengers are coming off a win in their season opener, the Yellow Army had to face hard luck thus far.

Aiming to record their first win over the edition, Chennai skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad stepped in for the toss. Winning it over the home captain, the guests let the home team bat first. During the toss, former India head coach Ravi Shastri asked about the latest update on MS Dhoni. Gaikwad replied to it by saying that the five-time IPL winning champion is slowly getting back to it. He also added that if Dhoni is ready to play, it will happen soon.

“MS is getting back slowly, sometimes it takes time, if he's ready to play, it'll be soon,” Gaikwad told Shastri. It is to be noted that Dhoni was ruled out for a minimum of two weeks ahead of the season opener due to a calf strain. However, it seems that it is not as serious as the 44-year-old could be seen on the field with the team during practice sessions.

Ruturaj Gaikwad reflects on first two losses, aims for win in third game

Apart from speaking on Dhoni, the 29-year-old also talked about the team’s first two losses of the season. Notably, after going down against the Rajasthan Royals in the season opener, the Super Kings suffered a five-wicket loss to the Punjab Kings in the second game, despite posting a total of 209 runs. “The first game was disappointing, but our batting was much better in the second game. Everyone is feeling confident,” said Gaikwad.

This is how Chennai and Bengaluru’s playing XI looks like for Sunday’s Southern Derby.

Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy