Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni did not hold back in expressing his frustration over the team’s batting performance following their loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2025 on Friday. Despite making a couple of changes to the lineup, including bringing in Dewald Brevis and Deepak Hooda while dropping Rachin Ravindra, CSK failed to deliver a strong start with the bat.
The team lost Shaik Rasheed on the very first delivery of the match, which set the tone for another disappointing batting performance. Dhoni pointed to the failure to capitalize on a decent pitch and blamed the team’s inability to post a competitive total, despite the conditions being favorable for scoring.
“We kept losing wickets, and 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 8-10th over, it became slightly two-paced for the fast bowlers, but nothing that was out of the ordinary. I feel we could have put a few more runs on the board,” Dhoni said after the match. “In the second innings, there was a bit of help for the spinners. They bowled well and it was stopping a bit, but we were short by 15-20 runs,” he added.
The middle order did show some promise, with debutant Dewald Brevis contributing a quick 42 runs off 25 balls. However, Dhoni pointed out that the lack of consistency from other batters, particularly against spinners, was a significant issue.
“I think he (Brevis) batted really well and we need something like that in the middle order, where we have slightly struggled when the spinners come in. That’s a time we need to either play good batsmanship, where you pick your areas or try to play the big shot in your area,” Dhoni said.
The CSK captain emphasized that the team’s batting has been a major concern throughout the season, making it difficult for the side to stay competitive. He suggested that despite changes being made, when multiple players fail to perform, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a solution.
“In a tournament like this, if you have one or two areas where you can plug in the holes, it’s good, but if the majority of your players are not doing well, it becomes very difficult,” Dhoni noted. “We need to assess conditions and look to put runs on the board. We can’t keep going because we’re not putting enough runs up. The game has changed,” he concluded.
