Virender Sehwag, a former Indian opener, was blunt when he said that MS Dhoni’s final-ball hitting would not have changed the result of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL 2025 match on April 11. To the dismal cheers of the Chepauk crowd, CSK suffered one of their worst home losses in IPL history.
The CSK hitters showed little intention right away when KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane ordered them to bat first. In the fifteenth over, with the team reeling at 72/7, Dhoni once more postponed his entry point and came in to bat.
However, Sunil Narine trapped him LBW for a single run, and he only survived four deliveries. Given that Dhoni seemed to have been tickled by the bat, the dismissal seemed dubious.
However, the third umpire gave the CSK captain the marching orders and supported the on-field ruling. CSK ended up finishing at 103/9 in 20 overs after being humiliated to 75/8 in the 16th over.
Sehwag, who was clearly irritated by Dhoni’s dismissal, denied on Cricbuzz that the CSK captain’s decision to stay until the very end would have changed anything.
“I don’t think so. If he didn’t get out, they could’ve scored a maximum of 130. KKR chased this target (104) down in 10.1 overs. We would be coming live at 11:30 pm instead. That would’ve been the only difference,” said Sehwag (Via Hindustan Times).
CSK lost for the fifth time in a row as KKR chased down the goal in just 10.1 overs with eight wickets remaining. The Men in Yellow have lost for the longest time in their IPL history.
“We have to accept the challenge” – MS Dhoni
Following the terrible start to their IPL 2025 campaign, CSK captain MS Dhoni feels the team needs to rise to the obstacles presented to them. Due to regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury that ended the competition, the 43-year-old took charge of CSK for the first time since the IPL 2023 final.
It was the first time CSK had lost three straight home games in a season, and the KKR loss was the largest in IPL history in terms of balls left.
In his post-match remarks, Dhoni reflected on the defeat and stated (via Cricbuzz):
“It has been quite a few nights that has not gone our way. The challenge has been there, we have to accept the challenge. Today I felt we did not have enough runs on the board. It has been the case over there, when we bowled in the 2nd innings it stopped a bit, today it did in the first innings. When you lose too many wickets, there is pressure and with quality spinners it is difficult.”
MS Dhoni
CSK’s next game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday, April 14 is a virtual must-win since their chances of making the playoffs are gradually dwindling.
