IPL 2025: “Captain Cool is Back,” read a hopeful sign in the stands as MS Dhoni came out to face Varun Chakaravarthy. For a moment, the Chepauk crowd dreamed of a magical comeback one that could turn the season around.
But that fairytale never came true. Instead, it turned into a night to forget for Dhoni, his team, and most of all, the loyal CSK fans. In all their years, they had never seen such a poor show. IPL 2025 CSK had now lost five games in a row. Their once-strong home ground had turned into a place of defeat. The loud cheers were gone, replaced by silence.
Fans were excited for this match even though CSK had already lost four in a row. Dhoni, 43 years old, was back leading the team when no one expected it. They even won the toss. KKR chose to bowl first, which should have worked in CSK’s favor the pitch was expected to get slower, and CSK usually struggles while chasing. Anshul Kamboj was also making his debut, adding to the excitement.
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IPL 2025: Moeen Ali’s Wicket-Maiden Put Pressure on CSK
IPL 2025: But once the game started, KKR took complete control. Moeen Ali, once a CSK player, got rid of Devon Conway with a wicket-maiden. It was only the second time CSK had faced such a start. Then came Rahul Tripathi, filling in for an injured Ruturaj Gaikwad. But before he could score, the other opener was out.
After just five overs, CSK were crawling at 18/2, about to break their own record for the worst PowerPlay score of the season.
In the stands, a few fans were heard shouting “dei adinga da” (come on, hit it!) a desperate call for boundaries. Vijay Shankar gave them a small reason to cheer with a few good shots, but that moment didn’t last long.
Tripathi struggled badly. He has never been comfortable against fast bowlers, and even though this was a good chance facing more spin and less pace he looked completely out of touch. Sunil Narine finally got him out. R Ashwin was promoted to handle the spinners, but he too failed, scoring just one run from seven balls.
IPL 2025 Things only got worse from there
After Jadeja got out, CSK brought in Deepak Hooda as their impact sub. But he was dismissed for a duck just four balls later.
At 72 for 7, Dhoni walked in. The crowd went wild. This wasn’t just about cheering their hero it was pure hope. Hope that he could change the game. But with Narine and Chakaravarthy still bowling, it was always going to be tough. Dhoni has struggled against them before, and he didn’t last long. Narine got him again, adding to his record.
Silence! Total silence!!
No more cheering. No more hope. The match was already lost. CSK hit just one six in the entire innings. KKR, in contrast, hit more sixes in just 1.1 overs of their chase. They hit 10 sixes in total and won the game with 59 balls to spare a total thrashing.
Five straight losses. Three of them at home. For the first time ever, it felt like CSK’s season was slipping away into something unfamiliar: irrelevance. The night had started with hope but ended as a painful memory in CSK’s proud history.