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Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni reflected on his team’s disappointing performance after their loss to Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 clash on Sunday. Despite fighting half-centuries from Shivam Dube, who scored 50, and Ravindra Jadeja, who remained unbeaten on 53, CSK could only post 176 for 5.
Mumbai chased down the target comfortably. Rohit Sharma notched up his first fifty of the season, while Suryakumar Yadav played a blazing knock of 68 off just 30 deliveries. Their unbroken 114-run partnership for the second wicket sealed the win for MI.
Misread Conditions and Missed Opportunities
Speaking after the game, Dhoni admitted that his team fell short of the par score, especially considering the dew factor in the second innings.
“I think we were quite below par, because we all knew that dew will come in the second half and we were in a position to exploit the middle overs, and I just felt that Bumrah being one of the best death bowlers in the world right now, I felt once they started their death bowling early, that was the time we should have capitalized and started our slog slightly early and after that even if Bumrah also goes for runs it’s a plus point, I think there were a few overs there we could have got slightly more runs.”
Dhoni said the team missed out on key scoring opportunities during the middle overs and should have pushed harder to add at least 15 to 20 more runs.
“We needed those runs because 175 with the dew around is not a par score.”
Dew, Spin, and Suryakumar’s Brilliance
The CSK skipper also praised the way Suryakumar handled spin, adding that the conditions made life harder for their bowlers.
“I think the odd ball was still gripping and for us what was most important was the first 6 overs, and if you give away too many in the first 6 it becomes slightly easy and Surya is a brilliant player of spin bowling and with the dew it was doing slightly less, but it wasn’t like it was coming on nicely.”
Dhoni stressed the importance of not being too emotional during a rough patch and focusing on playing the right kind of cricket.
“What we need to realize is that we are successful because we play good cricket and at the same time when we are not playing good cricket what is important is not to get too emotional about it and at the same time you want to be practical. There have been instances, one of the seasons I think 2020 has not been great for us but we need to see whether we are playing the right form of cricket, whether we are applying ourselves.”
Eyes on the Future: Dhoni’s Subtle Signal
Toward the end of the post-match presentation, Dhoni made a telling comment that hinted at the franchise possibly looking ahead to next season.
“Those are the question marks we have got, few catches and that will help. Other than that we are just trying to plug in the holes, with all the games that are in front of us that we are supposed to win, we just take it one game at a time and if we lose a few, what will be important for us is to get the right combination for next year.”
He added that stability in the squad would be crucial moving forward, even if this season doesn’t result in a playoff spot.
“You don’t want too many players getting changed, what will be important is to try and qualify, but if not get a secured 11 for next year and come back strong.”
The defeat leaves CSK at the bottom of the points table, while Mumbai Indians climbed to sixth with their third consecutive win.
