Mahendra Singh Dhoni commands a massive fan following, with his loyal “yellow army” standing by him through wins and losses. After Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury, MS Dhoni took over the captaincy midway through IPL 18. However, under Dhoni’s leadership, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered a defeat against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. It marked SRH’s first-ever IPL win over CSK at Chepauk.
CSK’s batters were bowled out for 154 runs, a total that SRH chased down comfortably with eight balls to spare and five wickets in hand.
IPL 2025: Angry MS Dhoni blames CSK batters after 7th Loss in 9 matches; Fans say ‘Thala should retire’
The usually calm and composed Dhoni was visibly furious after CSK’s seventh defeat. He squarely blamed the batters for the team’s poor show.
After the game, Dhoni didn’t shy away from criticising the batting unit for once again failing to provide a strong start this season.
“We kept losing wickets. In the first innings, the wicket was slightly better and 155 is not a justifiable score because it wasn’t turning a lot. Yes, after the 8th-10th over, it became slightly two-paced for the fast bowlers, but nothing extraordinary. I feel we could have put a few more runs on the board. In the second innings, there was a bit of help from our spinners bowled in the right areas, and the ball was stopping a bit, but we were short by 15-20 runs,” Dhoni said.
Dhoni further elaborated on CSK’s challenges this season, “In a tournament like this, if you have one or two areas where you can plug the gaps, it’s manageable. But if the majority of your players aren’t performing, it becomes very difficult. You have to make changes — you can’t keep backing the same players if they’re not delivering. Right now, it’s essential to assess the conditions and post competitive totals. I’m not saying it always has to be 180-200, but you must put enough runs on the board,” Dhoni concluded.
Reactions
Following the defeat, CSK’s seventh loss of the season, fans slammed Dhoni left, right, and centre, urging him to retire and step aside.
A user wrote, “CSK is out of the IPL, and people are already saying Dhoni should retire. But they don’t understand Dhoni is more than just a player. He’s the soul of CSK, the heartbeat of millions. He’s not there just for runs, he’s there for the fans, for the legacy. He’s not going anywhere..”
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Suresh Raina pointed fingers at the CSK management, suggesting that Dhoni had minimal involvement in the franchise’s auction planning, contributing to the team’s struggles this IPL season.
Raina weighed in, “They always say MS Dhoni makes the final call. But to be very honest, I never attended any of the auctions myself. I was never part of those discussions. I always spoke about the players who were retained. MS might get a call about whether to go ahead with a player or not, but he’s not deeply involved.”
He added, “The core group handles the auction. You can imagine — Dhoni couldn’t have managed this type of auction. He would maybe name four or five players he wanted, and a few would be retained. Even if an uncapped player is working hard, look at MS Dhoni — at 43, he’s still giving everything.”
He added, “He’s playing just for the brand, for his name, for the fandom — and still putting in the effort. At 43, he’s doing wicketkeeping, captaining, and carrying the entire team on his shoulders. But what are the other ten players doing? Those who are paid Rs 18 crores, Rs 17 crores, Rs 12 crores — they’re not responding to the captain. Especially when you’re losing to teams you’ve never lost to before — that needs to be addressed. You have to identify: is this player a match-winner?”
