‘We have lost too many matches…’: MS Dhoni's first reaction after returning as CSK captain, ‘will miss Ruturaj’
MS Dhoni takes over CSK's leadership in not so favourable times. They have lost four out of their five matches and are in desperate need of a turnaround.
MS Dhoni walked up for the toss as the captain of the Chennai Super Kings after a gap of two years and the Chepauk crowd let the world know what it meant to them. They had to wait a bit as Dhoni didn't win the toss. Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane did and opted to bowl. After Rahane was done explaining his reasons for opting to field and the team combination, in walked Dhoni with the microphone in hand. The noise that Chepauk made was deafening.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri took some time and said, "We finally get to talk to you."
Dhoni is rarely available for a chat even with the broadcasters. This was his first interview, if we can call that in IPL 2025. "We were looking to bat first. Quite a few occasions where we tried to chase it down, and what we realised is that the wicket slows down a bit, so if you don't get a good start, then the middle order comes under pressure," Dhoni said.
Shastri then enquired about Rututraj Gaikwad, who was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured elbow. Calling Ruturaj an "authentic batter", Dhoni said the right-hander would be a big miss.
CSK vs KKR Live Score, IPL 2025
"Not nice to miss a player like him, he can play different roles , he can launch and score big score and can maintain a good strike rate. We will miss him but can't do anything," Dhoni, who became the first 'uncapped player' in IPL history to lead a franchise, said.
‘Every game important, we have lost too many matches’: Dhoni
The five-time IPL-winning captain takes over CSK's leadership in not so favourable times. The Yellow brigade have lost four out of their five matches and are in desperate need of a turnaround. Dhoni said every game is important for them now.
"It is important now, every game is important. We have lost too many matches and now it is important to do the basics right - have dot balls, take our catches. A couple of games we lost by big margins, but otherwise it was about the small things - about one over going for 20 runs. Our batters are more authentic as batters, they won't slog everything. They just need to back their instincts. It is important to start well, get boundaries early on and try to get a couple of early wickets as well," Dhoni said.
KKR made one change, bringing in Moeen Ali in place of Spencer Johnson.
CSK made two changes, drafting Rahul Tripathi and Anshul Kamboj for Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mukesh Choudhary.
Chennai Super Kings XI: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed.
Kolkata Knight Riders XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.
