As Chennai Super Kings suffered a deflating six-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in their final league game, all eyes were on MS Dhoni.
Though his side had already secured a playoff berth, the margin of defeat and the manner in which it came left the CSK skipper with plenty to ponder. Dhoni, ever the realist, acknowledged the team’s struggles with consistency and composure in crunch phases.
"If you look at the amount of runs we have put on the board, it's very good. But if you look at the wicket, I think we lost quick wickets. It puts pressure on the lower-middle order. Brevis played really well. I feel the runs were up, the run-rate was up but we lost two or more wickets."
Despite rapid starts from Ayush Mhatre (43 off 20), Dewald Brevis (42 off 25), and Shivam Dube (39 off 32), CSK’s innings faltered in the middle, allowing RR bowlers Akash Madhwal (3/29) and Yudhvir Singh (3/47) to wrest control.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Tushar Deshpande bowled tight spells to deny CSK any late flourish.
Dhoni praised young pacer Anshul Kamboj, who troubled RR with his seam movement. "Anshul is good. He gets a good seam movement. He doesn't get much swing. I feel the ball hits you harder than the speed gun suggests. We are just trying to ease him in. Try not to give too many runs in the first six overs. He has bowled three overs inside the powerplay. It's tough but he has done well when the batters are set and trying to score freely."
However, it was the lack of maturity in finishing games that concerned Dhoni most. “If you’re looking at a strike-rate of 200, then consistency is hard. Youngsters need to back themselves for long innings, not take on extra pressure,” he warned.
Rajasthan, who had nothing to lose, played freely and chased down the target with 17 balls to spare. Vaibhav Suryavanshi (52 off 27) starred with the bat alongside Sanju Samson (41 off 31), while Dhruv Jurel’s explosive 31* off 12 sealed a convincing win.
"When you have a good season, people expect a lot of things from you. It's the first season. Don't try too many things. Learn from the experienced players and the support staff. Try to finish the games and that would be my advice to the young players."
Dhoni’s message was clear — talent must be backed by cricketing smarts and clarity. As CSK gear up for the playoffs, they’ll hope the younger lot has taken note of their captain’s words, because in the knockouts, there’s no room for second chances.
