IPL 2026: MS Dhoni back at Wankhede! CSK legend hints at massive comeback vs MI | cricket news
Mumbai: is a great captain ms dhoni And England’s star all-rounder will jacks Are you ready to return to action in the big Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday night? After several days of anticipation, it may happen. Dhoni Took intensive training at CSK nets at Wankhede on Tuesday night. Notably, he kept wickets for about half an hour and also batted for about 30 minutes. The 44-year-old, who suffered a calf strain during the pre-season camp, was seen striking the ball fluently without any trouble. However, Dhoni was earlier practicing with the CSK team in Chennai. CSK is currently placed eighth in the IPL 2026 points table with two wins and four losses. His potential return will add valuable depth to their batting. Meanwhile, Jacques has finally arrived in India after missing MI’s first six matches. The England star, who was the standout performer at the 2026 T20 World Cup with four Player of the Match awards, trained in MI’s nets at the Wankhede between 5pm and 6pm on Monday, and also took part in an optional practice session under lights on Tuesday. The 27-year-old off-spinner bowled in the nets and batted for almost an hour. His arrival is a big boost for MI, whose campaign picked up momentum after an impressive 99-run win over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday night. Jack’s arrival was delayed due to unknown reasons, with the MI management avoiding giving details about his absence during the first three weeks of IPL 2026. His appearance was eagerly awaited by both the management and the fans. As a powerful middle-order batsman and a capable spinner, Jack strengthens both departments for MI. His inclusion may force the team to drop one of its overseas spinners – Allah Ghazanfar or Mitchell Santner. Having delivered several useful cameos at No. 6 and 7 for England during the T20 World Cup, Jacques also provides MI with a reliable finishing option. Spencer Johnson joins CSK team In another boost for CSK, Australian fast bowler Spencer Johnson, signed as a replacement for Nathan Ellis, joined the squad in Mumbai on Tuesday ahead of the marquee clash. The left-arm fast bowler trained with the team at the Wankhede and is expected to be included in the playing eleven on Thursday night, possibly replacing Khaleel Ahmed, who was sidelined with injury last week. After a slow start, injuries have significantly affected CSK’s campaign. In their previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, young batsman Ayush Mhatre suffered a hamstring injury, ruling him out of the remaining matches of IPL 2026.
On the first anniversary of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 civilians and led to India launching Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, TOI has learned that it was Air Commodore Rohit Kapil, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of 45 Wing at Sirsa – a forward IAF base close to the Pakistan border – and his team that intercepted a Pakistani ballistic missile (possibly a missile) at the Sirsa airfield with its Barak-8 missile system. A Fatah missile or Shaheen-II version) was successfully intercepted and destroyed. The target of the Pakistani missile was probably Delhi. Security forces recovered some parts of the missile from Sirsa on May 10, videos of which scattered on the ground are going viral.The prompt action of the Indian Air Force’s 45 Wing averted a major attack and demonstrated the effectiveness of India’s integrated air defense network, which the Modi government is now working to expand to a pan-India level under the Sudarshan programme. The proposed multi-layered Sudarshan will fuse existing, indigenous and advanced systems – such as the Russian S-400, Barak-8 MRSAM and the indigenous Project Kusha interceptor system – to protect Indian cities, strategic assets and infrastructure from drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic threats.Not many people knew about the alert action of Air Commodore Kapil and his team during last year’s conflict, but it could have saved many lives. For his role in air defense as AOC of 45 Wing at Sirsa, Air Commodore Kapil was selected for the Yudh Seva Medal by President Draupadi Murmu on 14 August. Commissioned as a fighter pilot on 20 June 1998, he is a Su-30MKI pilot and Cat ‘A’ qualified flight instructor and has also commanded an operational Su-30MKI squadron.On the eve of the anniversary of the Pahalgam attack on Tuesday, the Indian Army warned Pakistan through a stern message on Twitter: “When the limits of humanity are crossed, the response is decisive”. The message contained a digital poster containing a shadowed image of a map of India with the caption ‘Certain boundaries should never be crossed’.
Driven by transgender rights activists Manveer Yadav and Vishwanath Maithil – who identify themselves as transmen – the petition said the 2026 amendment law brings sweeping changes to the 2019 law and is a “complete affront to the principles” laid down by the SC in the 2014 landmark ‘National Legal Services Authority vs Union of India’ case, which recognized “transgender” as a broad term, including trans men and trans masculinities. Covers a wide and diverse range of identities. identity, trans women, non-binary individuals, genderqueer individuals, and socio-cultural groups including Hijras, Kinnars, Aravanis and Jogtas, and held that the criteria for recognition should be ‘psychological testing’ and not ‘biological testing’.‘The two other petitioners are transgender rights activists and trans women Abhina Aher and Vinshi Shahi.The petitioners said the 2026 law replaces an identity-based, self-determination framework with externally verifiable biological markers and an explicit list of designated trans-feminine socio-cultural communities, none of which include trans men.Highlighting that before the amendments, “transgender person” was defined in the Trans Rights Act, 2019, to include trans men and trans women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queer persons and designated socio-cultural communities, regardless of medical intervention. Additionally, it guaranteed the right to self-perceived gender identity. “Taken together, this framework operationalized the constitutional mandate of NALSA. The 2026 Amendment Act systematically dismantles this,” he stressed.The petition states that the 2026 Amendment Act, firstly, replaces the open, identity-based definition of “transgender person” under the 2019 Act with a categorical and exhaustive list of: persons with designated socio-cultural identities (Kinnar, Hijra, Aravani, Jogta, and Kinnar); Individuals with intersex diversity defined through biological and chromosomal criteria; And individuals are forced to adopt transgender identities through forced physical modification.“Furthermore, a provision declares that the definition “does not, and has never, included individuals of diverse sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities.”Furthermore, the petitioners express concern as they highlight that “the right to self-perceived gender identity which is constitutionally protected has been completely abandoned without any valid rationale”. They say, “The combined effect of such amendments is to deny trans men and trans masculine identities all statutory recognition and protection.”“Furthermore, each named socio-cultural community by definition is, without exception, a trans-feminine community of individuals assigned as male at birth. Trans men and trans masculine identities have no equivalent named community formation in India; their structural invisibility is itself a defining feature of their experience,” the petition said.It further highlights that “the legislature’s privileging of community-visible, trans-feminine identities over self-perceived identities is not a neutral classification, it is a bias of visibility encoded in statute.”Raising various issues, the petitioners also drew attention to how the 2026 Amendment Act restructures the certificate regime under the Trans Rights Act 2019, “converting a convenient, self-declaration-based process on gender transition into an administrative decision and mandatory state surveillance”.“Under the 2026 Amendment Act, the District Magistrate is now required to examine the recommendation of a medical board and, where it is considered “necessary or desirable”, seek the assistance of other medical experts before issuing a certificate of identity. This directly reproduces the Corbett Biological Test clearly rejected in the NALSA case and creates a chilling impact on gender expression,” the petitioners say.They also highlight the Parliamentary Standing Committee report, which cautioned against such “medical gatekeeping” and sought the intervention of the apex court to protect the rights of the community, and urged the Supreme Court to declare the right to self-perceived gender identity a fundamental right protected under the Constitution of India.“Medical institutions are mandated to furnish details of any person undergoing gender-affirming surgery to the District Magistrate and designated authority without consent, purpose limitation or data protection safeguards. This violates the right to informational privacy, decisional autonomy and bodily autonomy under Article 21; violates doctor-patient confidentiality; conflicts with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023; and creates a state-controlled surveillance architecture on gender transition that is clearly arbitrary and capricious under Article 21.” Disproportionate under 14,” the petition said.It further says, “The protection that change of gender will not affect existing rights and entitlements under the Act has been removed, removing an important statutory protection and leaving individuals transitioning without protection of their rights.”In this backdrop, the petitioners seek the intervention of the apex court to protect the rights of the community and urge the Supreme Court to declare the right to self-perceived gender identity as a fundamental right protected under the Constitution of India.
