6 hours Ago By Faham Uddin
IPL 2025 has been a nightmare for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Wins and defeats are part and parcel of a sport but CSK have looked like a team that was way below the standards of the highly competitive tournament like IPL. The bowing unit did what they could, but the batting was a big letdown.
To be fair, CSK didn't have sufficient quality in the batting. The top order looked solid, with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra, at least on paper; however, the team did not have solid middle order batters who could compete with the pace of ever ever-evolving T20 format. CSK also struggled with the quality finisher, with Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni as their options.
Both were top-quality cricketers, no doubt, but they are past their prime, and the team needed fresh blood in the squad. CSK had a poor auction where they failed to rope in match winners. The blame was put on MS Dhoni, the franchise veteran, however, CSK star Suresh Raina revealed that MS Dhoni had little role to play in the auction.
"They always say MS Dhoni makes the final call. But to be very honest, I never attended any of the auctions. I was never a part of those discussions.
I always talked about the players who were retained. MS might get a call about whether to go ahead with a player or not - but he's not that involved," said Raina on Star Sports "The core group handles the auction - you can imagine, Dhoni can’t have this type of auction. He would maybe name four or five players he wants, and out of them, a few would be retained.
Even if an uncapped player is working hard, look at MS Dhoni—being a 43-year-old captain, still giving everything." "He's playing just for the brand, for his name, for the fandom - and still putting in the effort. At 43, he's doing wicketkeeping, captaining, carrying the entire team on his shoulders.
But what are the other ten players doing?" Raina also took a dig at CSK players for their poor show in IPL 2025, saying that MS Dhoni is doing what he can, but the lack of support from other players has hurt the team. "Those who are paid Rs 18 crores, Rs 17 crores, Rs 12 crores - they're not responding to the captain. Especially when you've never lost to certain teams before - that needs to be rectified.
You have to identify - is this player a match-winner?" "Can I trust this player in the next match? There are players who've been playing there for years - even the older ones. But what are the results? You're losing. The same mistakes are happening every time.
" Raina expects a major shape-up in CSK, led by MS Dhoni himself. “I think MS Dhoni will now sit down - he won't want anyone around him. He knows CSK didn't buy properly in auction.
He wouldn't have allowed it. He must have made up his mind. "After the toss, when they lost, the way he walked - and both of them were standing there - it's clear there's going to be a meeting today,” he added.
With two wins in nine games, CSK's chances of reaching the playoffs are all but over. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from IPL 2025,IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap, Most Sixes in IPL, Cricket, Sports and around the world..
