MS Dhoni lit up the Chepauk crowd on Monday night with a vintage knock, but even he didn’t expect to walk away with the Player of the Match award.
The Chennai Super Kings skipper smashed 26 off just 11 balls—hammering four boundaries and a six—to help CSK chase down a tough target against the Lucknow Super Giants. The win was only CSK’s second this season, but Dhoni’s reaction to the post-match honors stole the spotlight.
“Even today I was like—why are they giving me the award?” Dhoni said with a grin after the game. “Noor bowled really well.”
He was referring to CSK’s spinner Noor Ahmad, who had a solid outing with the ball. Dhoni’s quickfire innings came in the final overs and turned the tide, but he felt the recognition should have gone to someone else.
Despite the win, CSK still sit at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table. Dhoni admitted the season hasn’t gone to plan so far.
“It’s good to finally win a game,” he said. “There can be lots of reasons why we’ve been losing. The powerplay didn’t go our way, and we couldn’t get the start we needed while batting.”
He pointed to Chennai’s home pitch as another challenge. “The wicket here is a bit on the slower side. When we’ve played away, the batters have looked better. We don’t want to play timid cricket—we want confidence to play our shots.”
Dhoni also spoke about team strategy, noting that early-season decisions—like overusing Ravichandran Ashwin in the powerplay—had put pressure on individual players. With a few changes, he believes the bowling attack is more balanced now. Still, the batting unit has work to do.
One bright spot: young Shaik Rasheed. “He’s been with us a few years and has looked good in the nets this season,” Dhoni said. “He’s just getting started, but he’s got real potential with proper cricketing shots.”
As CSK fights to climb the table, Dhoni’s calm, honest assessment of both his own performance and the team’s issues reflects a man who’s seen it all—but still wants to win.
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