CSK’s Sanju Samson makes IPL history, breaks MS Dhoni’s record to become…

Sanju Samson added his name to a list long dominated by MS Dhoni after breaking Dhoni’s record for most runs scored by a CSK designated wicketkeeper in one IPL season at Chennai Super Kings in their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chepauk on Monday.Dhoni scored 461 runs in 16 innings during the 2013 season. Samson needed just 12 runs to surpass that mark and reach the milestone in just six balls, scoring 15 runs in Chennai Super Kings’ innings against opener Nitish Kumar Reddy.Samson continued his attacking streak and hit three consecutive boundaries against Praful Hinge in the second over. He was batting on 27 off 11 balls as SRH skipper Pat Cummins stepped into the attack.Cummins first bowled a yorker which Samson managed to dig out before following it up with a delivery outside the off stump. Samson attempted a drive, overstepped the ball and was caught behind.Dhoni’s record as a wicket-taker for CSK remains unbeaten overall, with Samson becoming only the second player to top 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 IPL 2026 from 13 innings at an average of 47.7.Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2026 match at MA Chidambaram Stadium.The Hyderabad side beat CSK by 10 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium this season.During the draw, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad confirmed that MS Dhoni was unavailable for the match due to fitness issues.“First we look at batting. We look a bit dry and want to put up a good total. Even in the last match against MI, it was not the best wickets for the batting. 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 one change,” CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said during the toss.