Indian and Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni will not play a part in the IPL for the next ten days or so due to his elbow injury.
Dhoni had hurt his elbow while batting in the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders when a short ball from Shane Bond had taken an edge off his bat and then hit his elbow. Dhoni continued to bat in the innings, and smashed a match-winning 66 off only 33 balls.
Dhoni was also declared the man of the match for his knock, but came to receive his award with an elbow tied to an ice-pack.
In Dhoni’s absence, Suresh Raina will lead the side and Pathiv Patel could come in as the wicket-keeper. Chennai has played two games in the tournament so far, and have won and lost one each. Chennai play their next game against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Friday.
Dhoni’s injury follows Graeme Smith’s fractured finger against the Delhi Daredevils. Smith will miss the rest of the tournament thanks to the fracture.
Chennai Super Kings were the losing finalists in the first edition of the tournament, whereas they had lost in the semi-finals in 2009. Coral offers 6/1 for Chennai to win the tournament this time, third only after Delhi and Mumbai who are at 3/1 (Sky Bet) and 5/1 (Sporting Bet) respectively.
Dhoni was also the fourth favourite to end the tournament as the top run-getter at 14/1 (Stan James), behind the troika of Jacques Kallis (6/1 at Stan James), Adam Gilchrist (10/1 at Stan James) and Virender Sehwag (10/1 at Stan James). Currently, Kallis is the highest run-getter in the two games that he has played so far.