Be done with MS Dhoni? CSK's crisis lies elsewhere—what can Chennai do after IPL 2025?

Hindustan Times

21-05-2025

IPL 2025 has been a season gone wrong for the Chennai Super Kings in almost every possible way. They were probably the only side that didn't want the tournament to resume. While Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad — the other two teams knocked out of playoff contention before the league was suspended — managed a win each post-resumption, Chennai's misery continued. The MS Dhoni-led side suffered their 10th defeat on Tuesday (May 20) in Delhi, their 13th game of the season. As a result, the franchise's entire approach — from the retention window to auction strategy — has come under scrutiny.
Chennai have one more game to play before they are officially done with the season. They are next scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 25) for a match against the already-qualified Gujarat Titans. Yet, Chennai will be left with a sizeable concern to be done with - planning for the next auction and taking the harsh retention and release calls.
It could be deemed pure fanaticism to have soaring expectations from a 43-year-old plagued with knee injuries for a long time. But that is what CSK fans, even experts, have been about through the years in the IPL, only for them to largely realise. While fanaticism will always have its place when you combine Dhoni, IPL, and Chennai, for the first time, the former India captain has been urged to consider retirement while his legacy remains intact.
It has been a season to forget for Dhoni. Barring the 26-run show against Lucknow Super Giants, for which he earned the Player of the Match award, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter, who replaced injured Ruturaj Gaikwad as interim skipper midway through the campaign, managed just 196 runs in 13 matches, at a strike rate of 135.2. But his form might not even be the biggest issue for Chennai. His death-over strike rate of 151.72 might be among his worst numbers in the batting phase in an IPL season, a significant drop from his career-best 220.5, achieved last season, yet he is the only other Chennai batter, besides Ravindra Jadeja (162.67), to have that 150-plus figure in 2025.
Whether Chennai want to be done with Dhoni or vice versa, will remain a speculation with the captain slated to take the likely call ahead of the next auction, the franchise does have other big issues to solve.
CSK's biggest issue were the top-order line-up, which averaged only 23.31, the worst among all franchises and almost three times less than table-toppers Gujarat (61.35). Even their strike rate of 142.48 is nearly 30 per cent less than Punjab Kings, who dominate the metric. In fact, both figures have been their worst in any IPL season. The top order's struggle was clearly evident with Chennai failing to make an impact against the new ball, managing a strike rate of just 135.47, the worst among all teams, including a poor boundary rate of only 4.5.
With Gaikwad there to stay, Chennai could offload the New Zealand duo of Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, who averaged only 27.3 and 23.5, respectively. Rahul Tripathi, who was also tried in the top order and failed to impress, could also be released. The franchise, however, has able replacements in young Urvil Patel and Ayush Mhatre. The 17-year-old scored 163 runs in the five innings he played thus far at a strike rate of 181. South Africa's Dewald Brevis, who scored 168 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 164.71, could round up the top four, with Chennai probably wanting a destructive back-up top-order batter.
Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda could also be released after meagre middle-order returns, leaving Chennai to look for fresh options. With an Indian line-up ready to take over the top-order duty, CSK could focus on recruiting overseas players to fill the middle-order gaps.
Chennai did manage to cover their middle-order flaws with the batting promotion of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but the franchise might have to take a difficult call on whether they want to continue with the senior all-rounders. Ashwin scored just 33 runs this season and picked up eight wickets at an average of 40.43. Jadeja too snared eight wickets at 38.38 with only a decent show with the bat, scoring 280 runs at a strike rate of 137.25. It is unlikely that it will be Jadeja, despite his waning numbers in T20 cricket, but Chennai could free up some funds by releasing Ashwin.
Among the bowlers, Matheesha Pathirana has been off colour compared to his breakaway season in 2024, managing only 12 wickets in 11 games at an economy rate of 10.17. Chennai head coach Stephen Fleming was candid in admitting that the Sri Lanka pacer did not match their expectation, but his statement about his future in CSK showed optimism.
'Yeah, he hasn't been up to what we want. We have high expectations of him, which is why we retained him, but he is coming back into some form. He was really out of form when we had him in South Africa. He's made improvements, but it's still not to where we or he would like, so there's some room for him to get some form and get some confidence, I guess,' Fleming said in the post-match press conference on Tuesday.
'But I think he's just at that crossroads where batsmen are playing him better. They've seen more of him, so now he just has to drill down on what he needs to do to be as effective as what he's been for the first part of his career. It's a unique skill set, but it's been a little bit off,' Fleming added.