IPL 2025: Over-reliance on MSD, poor auction hurting Chennai Super Kings

Back in the day, the invincibility of Chennai Super Kings in IPL often led to a popular joke that it’s a competition where the other seven teams fight among themselves to earn the right of playing M.S. Dhoni & Co in the final. Given the sorry state that the five-time champions find themselves in the ongoing edition, it sounds more like a cruel joke now.

After their eight-wicket whipping at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders with virtually 10 overs to spare, the five-time champions’ litany of woes has been told over and over again. Yes, it’s been their lowest total at the Chepauk and the first time they had suffered five losses on the trot in the history of IPL after that opening win against Mumbai Indians – not to speak of the fact they are now languishing at the ninth spot of the table.

It’s not that the yellow shirts have not been in such desperate situations before – one remembers them winning the title the very season they made a comeback after a two-year ban or bouncing back from being wooden spooners in 2020 to being the champions next year. However, with one win from six matches and a terrible – 1.554 nett run rate to boot, it will be a miracle if they manage to win at least seven of the remaining eight matches (for one needs at least eight wins under the belt to make it to the play-offs).

What is even more galling is M.S. Dhoni’s post mortem that they need to go back to the ‘drawing board’ and sort out what had been ailing them. If his return as captain in the wake of Ruturaj Gaikwad’s elbow injury raised hopes that there could be a turnaround on Friday, an abject batting failure against the Knights’ spin arsenal spelt doom by the first half of the game. MSD’s attempts to deflect some of the blame on his two openers: Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway for trying to cut loose in the powerplay and losing their wickets looks misplaced as this is the common template in franchise cricket these days.

The most diehard of Dhoni fans may argue that it had been a collective failure on part of the team and it would be wrong to single him out – but there is no doubt that a lions’ share of the blame has to lie at his door. One can even say that Mumbai Indians, the only other team to win the title five times, are not any better off at eighth position but they had been proactive to bring about changes in the personnel and do whatever course correction possible for their fortunes to change.

CSK, on the other hand, have lived in denial for far too long and relied on the cricketing acumen of virtually one man for critical decision-making. This paid them till as recently as in 2023 when they won their last title – and their management was also duly credited for having a human face and putting a premium on loyalty and continuity. Each to their own, but their refusal to look beyond a 43-year-old cricketer and leader past his prime was certainly as per the need of the hour.

One of CSK's worst defeats ever. Powerplay batting looked like a rehearsal for a test match. Whole XI feels like it's running on nostalgia. Time to think out of the box, why not try isome unsold players like Prithvi Shaw at this point? Would you try it? , even chaos is a…

— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 11, 2025

The mega auction last year was an opportunity for all franchises to realign their forces with the purse available – go for some heavyeights and balance it with youngsters who can serve the team in the next cycle. CSK’s auction strategy, on the other hand, was conservative and full of uninspired choices while one of their scouts made quite a shocking revelation in a Tamil Youtube channel recently.

The CSK scout claimed that he had handed over a list with names of Priyansh Arya, Aniket Verma and a few other young bowlers – but the management chose to ignore them. If his revelation has some truth in it, then one must say that the stubbornness of one of the well run franchises in IPL history is costing them dear.

It’s not about Dhoni anymore – irrespective of what number he comes to bat for or whips away the bails lightning quick for a stumping. The team has to turn a corner…and fast!