MS Dhoni‘s return to Chennai Super Kings captaincy was a forgettable one as his team slumped to a massive loss against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai in the IPL 2025 on Friday. Sunil Narine‘s all-round efforts – a spell of 3-13 and a knock of 44 – played a critical part in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) thoroughly outclassing Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by eight wickets in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Narine, whose 18-ball 44 helped KKR chase down 104 with 59 balls to spare, said he endeavors to try and give his team flying starts.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni’s controversial dismissal left social media divided during Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2025 encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai on Friday. Dhoni came out to bat at No. 8 behind the likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja but he was dismissed for just 1. During the 16th over of the CSK innings, Dhoni was beaten by a delivery from Sunil Narine that crashed into his pads. The on-field umpire raised his finger but the veteran CSK star instantly went for a review. There were very small spike in the UltraEdge when the ball went past the bat but the third umpire decided to stay with the existing decision. The decision led to a lot of chatter on social media with many criticising the third umpire for his call.
Later, Virender Sehwag was asked about whether decision would have made a difference had Dhoni been not out. “I don’t think it would have made a difference had MS Dhoni been given not out. Had he been not out, how much would CSK have gotten to? Maximum 130? So, by when did KKR chase down the target (10. 1 overs)? We would have analysed the match at 11:30 pm instead of now. That would have been the only difference,” Sehwag said on Star Sports.
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Talking about the match, Sunil Narine said: “Almost (a complete game), next time hope I can take a catch as well (Narine dropped Vijay Shankar‘s catch on zero). I try to focus on my strengths. Batters play well, but if you focus too much on batters, you are already on the back foot.
“You get accustomed and try to adapt as soon as possible. You see what happens in the power-play and try and help the team. It’s very simple – trying to get the team off to a flying start. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” said Narine, the Player of the Match awardee, after the game ended.
Moeen Ali, who bowled a tidy spell of 1-20 and kept CSK batters in check, was in praise of how other bowlers and fielders helped him maintain a stranglehold on the five-time champions.
“Having two left-handers helped my case. Kept as straight as possible. Rinku dived and stopped four early, which helped my confidence.”
“In power-play, you cannot bowl quick. Give it time to spin. Sometimes it skids on, sometimes it spins. Sunil has been outstanding for a long time. If I can bowl a couple of overs at the top and save them for later, it helps. I am learning from them. At the top, you can’t spin every ball. You just need one to grip, and that puts doubts in the batters’ minds,” he added.
KKR, the defending champions, will now have some time off before facing off against Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on April 15.
With ANI inputs
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