MS Dhoni returned as CSK captain for the home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday in IPL 2025, but it wasn’t the happiest of times at the crease for him, as he departed cheaply to his old foe Sunil Narine. Walking out to bat after the fall of the seventh wicket inside the 15th over with CSK reeling at 72 for seven, Dhoni faced just three balls before Narine bowled his classic off-spin to trap him in front of the wickets for just one.

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For the nth time this season, the crowd went bonkers watching its favourite cricketer come out to bat, only to watch him walk back within one over. The joy was short-lived for the fans and more so for Dhoni, who was looking ready to battle out the spin threat at Chepauk.

Also read | IPL 2025: Save your eardrums! Crowd goes bonkers as CSK’s MS Dhoni returns to toss after 683 days – Watch

Meanwhile, of all the bowlers Dhoni struggled to hit runs against in IPL or T20 cricket overall, Sunil Narine perhaps leads the chart, having bowled 92 balls to him and conceding just 48 runs, besides dismissing him three times. The story remained the same during this game, as he accounted for Dhoni, further denting CSK’s hopes of revival following a shallow start to the season.

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However, there was a twist in the tale. 

Upon reviewing the umpire’s call, the replays showed a slight deviation and little spikes, though not convincing enough for the umpires to overturn the decision; as a result, the call stood, and Dhoni was declared out LBW.

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Dube saves CSK’s grace

Chennai batted first and seemed to have regretted not making the most of the conditions. Placed ninth on the points table for just winning one out of five contested matches thus far, CSK didn’t improve and faced the wrath of poor batting again, this time by batting first.

After losing both openers inside the Powerplay, Vijay Shankar and Rahul Tripathi tried saving the sinking ship but failed, as KKR spinners Narine and Varun Chakravarthy tore into their middle order. The bowling pair wickets five wickets between them, restricting CSK to their third-lowest team total and the lowest at home (103/9).