Majority not performing well, fumes CSK's captain cool Dhoni after fourth home defeat

M S Dhoni blamed his underperforming squad after Chennai Super Kings lost their seventh match in nine rounds to remain bottom of the IPL 2025 points table. On Friday, fellow strugglers Sunrisers Hyderabad delivered Dhoni's CSK a five-wicket defeat.

It was also Dhoni's fourth match as captain of CSK since Ruturaj Gaikwad's injury, and he has lost three of those. The 43-year-old, who won five IPL titles, did not pull any punches post-match.

"In a tournament like this, if you have one or two holes that you can plug in, then good. But if the majority of your players are not doing well, you know, whether batting or bowling, it becomes difficult," Dhoni said.

On Friday, CSK were bowled out for 154, which Dhoni said "wasn't a justifiable score". Sunrisers, for their share of struggles with batting, could only secure the winning runs with eight balls to spare. Dhoni said they were 15-20 runs short.

CSK had made two changes from their defeat to Mumbai Indians by bringing in Dewald Brevis for his debut and Deepak Hooda in place of Rachin Ravindra and Vijay Shankar. Brewis impressed with a 25-ball 42, and Hooda made 22 off 21.

There was no spot for Rahul Tripathi, who has been struggling for runs. Shankar's exit was also understandable, considering his inconsistent run. Ravichandran Ashwin, who was economical but wicketless against Mumbai, was unused on the bench.

Dhoni said making changes had become necessary, but he did not hide his disappointment at the performances of those who had been given chances. "You have to make a few changes, but if the majority are doing good, you give that guy an extra few games, and if it doesn't work out, you move on to the next one. But if four of them are not performing at the same time, you are bound to make that change because you are not putting enough runs," Dhoni added.