Sanju Samson added his name to the long list dominated by MS Dhoni after the Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batsman broke Dhoni’s record for most runs by a designated CSK wicketkeeper in a single IPL season during their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chepauk on Monday.Dhoni scored 461 runs in 16 innings in the 2013 season. Samson needed just 12 runs to cross the mark and reached the milestone in just six balls with 15 in Chennai Super Kings’ innings against Nitish Kumar Reddy’s opening over.Samson continued his attacking style and hit three consecutive fours against Prafulhang in the second over. He was batting for 27 off 11 balls when SRH captain Pete Cummins brought himself into the attack.Cummins bowled a yorker first which Samson managed to dig out before following up with a ball outside the off stump. Samson tries to drive, edges the ball and is caught behind.Dhoni’s overall record as a wicketkeeper batsman for CSK is unparalleled, with Samson becoming only the second player to feature prominently on the list. Only three wicketkeepers have scored more than 100 runs for CSK in a season — Dhoni, Parthiv Patel in 2008, and Samson this season.Samson now has 477 runs in 13 innings at an average of 47.7 in IPL 2026.Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first in their IPL 2026 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.The Hyderabad team had earlier beaten CSK by 10 runs this season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.During the toss, CSK captain Rutoraj Gaikwad confirmed that MS Dhoni was unavailable for the match due to fitness issues.“We want to bat first. It looks a bit dry, and we want to make a good total. Even the last match against MI didn’t have the best wickets to bat on. Nothing complicated, and we want to keep it simple. MS Dhoni is still here, but he is not fit enough to play this game. We have a change,” CSK captain Rutoraj said during the chant.
