NEW DELHI: The expression on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s face said it all as Chennai Super Kings suffered another defeat—this time a five-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. A visibly disappointed Dhoni admitted that a total of 154 was far from “justifiable” on a Chepauk pitch that didn’t have any demons, as SRH dealt a near-fatal blow to CSK’s IPL 2025 play-off chances.
Sunrisers chased down the modest target in just 18.4 overs. Dhoni pointed out that it’s always tough when several players fail to deliver simultaneously.
He also believed that SRH batted under slightly tougher conditions in the second innings, yet CSK couldn’t capitalise. For the skipper, the lack of cohesion in the team’s overall effort was most frustrating.
“I think we kept losing wickets and another thing is in the first innings the wicket was slightly better and 157 wasn’t a justifiable score,” Dhoni said after CSK’s loss.
“It wasn’t turning a lot, a little two-paced but nothing out of the ordinary. Yes, second innings there was a bit of help. Our spinners, the quality was there and they were bowling in the right areas, but we were 15-20 runs short,” he added.
Commenting on Dewald Brevis’ performance, Dhoni said, “[On Brevis] I think he batted really well and we needed that in the middle order. When the spinners come in, you do it either by batsmanship or picking the right areas, but that’s an area where we want to improve because middle overs are crucial.”
Reflecting on the broader issues plaguing the team, Dhoni didn’t hold back.
“In a tournament like this, if there are one or two areas to plug in the holes it’s good, but when a majority of the players are not doing well you need to make changes. You can’t just keep going. We are just not putting enough runs on the board,” he said.
With this win, SRH have moved up to eighth place on the points table, registering three wins and six losses for a total of six points.
CSK, meanwhile, sit at the bottom with just two wins from nine games and only four points to show.
