Follow UsNever before have the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) found themselves in such a precarious position after eight games, with six losses and two wins. Their misery continued in IPL 2025, with a thumping nine-wicket loss at the hands of Mumbai Indians, as they failed to defend a paltry 176/5.
In the aftermath of the loss, CSK’s captain MS Dhoni revealed that the five-time IPL winners have to take it one game at a time, and added that if they fail to qualify, they might have to start hunting combinations for the next season.
“Take one game at a time. Look at the combinations for the next season, if we don't qualify,” Dhoni revealed in the post-match presentation.
Dhoni also opined that the franchise was terribly under par in the first innings, where they could only muster 176 despite a strong start early on in the powerplay, where Ayush Mhatre smashed a 15-ball 32.
"We were quite below par. Knew dew would come in the second half. Bumrah is one of the best death bowlers in the world, MI started their death bowling early, we should have started our slog early. We should have capitalised and got those runs,” Dhoni said.
“Batted well; he [Mhatre] picked his shots well. Wanted to play his shots, we also haven't seen him much,” he added.
Were the conditions playing a factor in their heavy loss? Dhoni felt otherwise.
“Odd ball was gripping. They played spin well. We never had a par score. If you give away too many in the first six. It wasn't like it was coming on nicely. We need to realise, we are successful because we play good cricket. But we need not get too emotional. We need to see if we are playing the right form or cricket, trying to put right amount of runs. A few more catches will help, we are trying to plug in the holes,” he concluded.