Chennai Super Kings continued to endure horrible IPL 2025 with their 10th defeat of the season against Rajasthan Royals, leaving their fans frustrated and angry and the centre of its storm is legendary wicketkeeper-batter and captain MS Dhoni.
Chennai Super Kings were the first team to be knocked out of the tournament and the only thing the five-time IPL champions had to do was to play for pride in their remaining fixtures, but even that seemed like a tall order as poor performances continued to plague the side. On Tuesday, CSK suffered a six-wicket loss to RR at Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. After posting a total of 187/8, Super Kings failed to defend their total as the Royals chased down 188-run target in 17.1 overs.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi was the star performer for the Royals as he led the run-chase with a brilliant knock of 57 off 33 balls at an impressive strike rate of 172.73 and formed a crucial 98-run stand for the second wicket with Sanju Samson, who scored 41 off 31 balls. Apart from Vaibhav and Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) and Dhruv Jurel (31*) too contributed significantly to RR’s run-chase. When the Royals needed six runs off 18 balls to win, Jurel hit a winning six to take the team past the finish line.
Fans demand MS Dhoni’s retirementAfter Chennai Super Kings suffered yet another defeat of the ongoing IPL season, the netizens were expressed their disappointment over the five-time champions’ poor performance and the social media, especially X (formerly Twitter) flooded with calls for MS Dhoni’s retirement from the cash-rich T20 league, blaming his dwindling form and the lack of tactical sharpness for the team’s dismal.
Taking to their X handle, the fans urged MS Dhoni to call it quits from IPL as they believe that he is no longer contributing effectively with the bat or in his leadership role, and that continued presence in the team prevents from building fresh talent.
MS Dhoni stepped in as the Chennai Super Kings skipper after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing IPL season due to elbow injury which he sustained during the clash against Rajasthan Royals in Assam’s Guwahati. The 43-year-old took over captaincy duties at a time when CSK were on a four-match losing streak in five matches under Ruturaj’s captaincy.
However, the fate of the Chennai Super Kings did not change despite their most successful captain taking the charge again as they lost six matches in their next eight outings. With three wins and 10 losses, CSK are likely to finish the season at the bottom of the points table. This is joint-worst season for Chennai Super Kings since their return to the IPL in 2018, matching their dismal run in 2022, where they finished the season with four wins and 10 losses.
MS Dhoni’s future in IPLAs the Chennai Super Kings’ campaign comes to a close with their final league stage match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on May 25, the discussion has been around the future of MS Dhoni. After CSK were knocked out by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the last IPL season on Net Run Rate (NRR), there were rumours and speculations that the legendary skipper had played the edition of the tournament.
However, the rumours were put to rest after Chennai Super Kings franchise retained him for INR 4 crore as an uncapped IPL player, given that he retired from international cricket for more than five years, with his last appearance for Team India coming in the 2019 semifinal against New Zealand. Since the five-time IPL champions have been knocked out of the ongoing season, all eyes are on whether MS Dhoni officially retires from the IPL or returns for one more season.
MS Dhoni, as usual, always leaves everything in suspense and continues to remain tightlipped about his future in the tournament. Even the Chennai Super Kings management is unaware of Dhoni’s plans beyond this season, as the veteran has neither confirmed nor denied whether IPL 2025 will be his final outing in CSK colours.
In IPL 2025, MS Dhoni has amassed 196 runs at an average of 24.50 and a strike rate of 135.17 in 13 matches.
