MS Dhoni, the captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), said candidly about their terrible batting performance as they suffered yet another heartbreaking loss in Friday’s IPL 2025 match at the Chepauk. Dhoni stated that the Super Kings cannot aim to get 60 runs in the first six overs of their match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) given that they only managed 31 runs during the powerplay.
The host team’s hitters hardly got going as the reigning champions, who had opted to bowl first, took wickets at regular intervals. In 20 overs, just four Chennai hitters managed to reach double figures, scoring 103/9. With 59 balls remaining, the Knight Riders triumphed by eight wickets in a canter.
MS Dhoni, who could score one off four, stated during the post-match presentation that CSK’s hitters use textbook shots, implying that their credo is to get deep into the game.
“Our openers are good openers, play authentic cricket shots, they don’t slog or look to hit across the line. It is important not to get desperate seeing the scorecard. If we start looking for 60 (in powerplay) with our lineup, it will be very difficult for us. Get partnerships going, maybe capitalise in the middle and later overs and if we lose wickets, the middle order has to do their job differently. And the slog will be delayed for quite a while.”
MS Dhoni
Kolkata’s spinners performed admirably on a slow pitch, especially Moeen Ali, who bowled a maiden and removed Devon Conway. Between them, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine took five scalps.
“We did not have enough runs on the board” – MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni continued to complain about the surface’s dearth of partnerships, acknowledging that Kolkata’s top spinners took full use of it. He went on to say:
“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. We never got any partnerships and bit more partnerships, application and we would be fine.”
MS Dhoni
Chennai has lost five games this season, and it was their third consecutive home loss.
