The Chennai Super Kings managed to put an end to their miserable streak of defeats in the IPL 2025, as they beat the Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Monday. Wonderful performance collectively by the visiting side, which made LSG restrict to a total of 166 for 7 after opting to bowl first. The five-time champions chased the target down in 19.3 overs with the help of Shivam Dube, who top-scored with 43 not out. For CSK, this win came after suffering five consecutive losses in this edition. Significantly, this was only Dhoni’s second IPL game in 2025 as captain for CSK.
Breathtaking changes in bowling and clever and extraordinary field placements were visible as always under the legendary captain. Along with 26 runs off 11 balls, he did a run-out, a stumping, and caught a ball.
The praise for the new CSK captain came in from former Australian captain Michael Clarke. It is worth mentioning that Dhoni is standing in as captain for the five-time titles champions since regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has already been ruled out of IPL due to a fracture in the elbow. Dhoni had earlier led the side to win its record-equalling five titles and passed the mantle to Gaikwad before IPL 2024.
“Captaincy of MS Dhoni was the best thing about tonight. One of the greats. He read the situation, he adapted to conditions, bowled his spinners in pairs, just the way MS Dhoni has done his entire career. Those two spinners got on, rushed through the overs, changed the pace of the game, and used the surface to pick the wickets. I think his experience out there in the ground set the tone for the evening as captain,” Michael Clarke stated to Star Sports.
Further praising Dhoni for his wicketkeeping, Clarke mentioned that in his view, still at 43, he is “the best wicketkeeper in the world”.
While keeping, Dhoni was impressive, with his lightening-fast hands behind the wicket.
“It’s always loud when MS Dhoni’s in town. Look, his keeping does not surprise me. I’ve said it before, in my opinion, he’s still the best wicketkeeper in the world. It’s phenomenal how consistent he’s been over a long period of time. I thought his captaincy was spot on tonight as well, the way he used both spinners through the middle, got through overs quick, built some pressure,” the former Australian captain expressed.
The victory on Monday did not alter the scene for CSK, who however remain rooted to the bottom of the table with 4 points from 7 games, with a negative net run rate of -1.276. They next meet Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on April 20.