MS Dhoni’s first game as CSK captain in IPL 2025 was one to forget for him, the team and the fans. The hosts lost their fifth straight match this season, going down to the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets on Friday. Dhoni captained CSK for the first time since leading the side to the title in 2023, but the game’s outcome left everyone worried in the CSK camp.

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After Ruturaj Gaikwad got ruled out of the tournament due to a fracture in his elbow, CSK reappointed MS Dhoni as the team captain for the remainder of the season. In his first game as the CSK captain this year, a position he held from 2008 to 2023, Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. Considering the pitch’s nature, which is bound to change in the second innings, it looked like a great call until the collapse happened.

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

CSK openers departed early inside the Powerplay, only for the middle order and the tail to suffer KKR’s spin twins’ wrath later in the innings. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy picked five wickets between them, with Harshit Rana returning with two to his name.

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Dhoni’s cheap dismissal on just one did spark controversy, but even that couldn’t cloud CSK’s horrible batting show as they registered a paltry 103 for nine in 20 overs, their third-lowest IPL total and the lowest at home.

KKR’s statement wins

Up against an attacking batting pair of Narine and Quinton de Kock, CSK’s new ball bowlers failed to leave any impact, conceding fours and sixes for fun. The pair added 46 runs for the first wicket before Anshul Kamboj broke the stand by removing de Kock clean bowled on 23. 

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Standing at the other end, Narine mocked CSK’s bowling attack, hitting boundaries to all parts of the ground. His quick-fire 44 off 18 balls, including five sixes and two fours, saw KKR reach touching distance of the target, as team captain Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh completed the formalities inside 11 overs.

With this win, KKR returned to the top three on the points table, securing three wins from six contested matches thus far this season.