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CSK skipper MS Dhoni said the team will consider combinations for IPL 2026 if they fail to qualify this year, following their nine-wicket loss to MI. CSK are last in the IPL 2025 points table.
MS Dhoni (Sportzpics Photo)
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni said the franchise will start ‘looking at combinations’ for IPL 2026 if they fail to qualify this year, after their huge nine-wicket defeat to rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 20).
CSK were already placed at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table before the match. Now, they have just four points after eight matches and need to win each of their remaining six games to have a chance at finishing in the top four. The kind of issues they showed in this match — scoring only 176 on a flat Wankhede wicket and letting MI chase it in the 16th over — makes a turnaround like that seem quite difficult.
“We need to see if we are playing the right form of cricket, trying to put right amount of runs,” Dhoni said after the defeat, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “A few more catches will help, we are trying to plug in the holes. Take one game at a time. Look at the combinations for the next season, if we don’t qualify.”
This was one of CSK’s worst defeats in recent memory, and also their first loss to MI since 2022. The batting order lacked the required firepower, which showed in how the top-scorers, Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja, barely crossed a strike-rate of 150. In the second innings, only Jadeja got among the wickets.
“We were quite below par,” Dhoni said. “Knew dew would come in the second half. Bumrah is one of the best death bowlers in the world, MI started their death bowling early, we should have started our slog early. We should have capitalised and got those runs. [Mhatre] Batted well, he picked his shots well. Wanted to play his shots, we also haven’t seen him much. The odd ball was gripping. They played spin well. We never had a par score. If you give away too many in the first six. It wasn’t like it was coming on nicely. We need to realise, we are successful because we play good cricket. But we need not get too emotional,” he added.
