Last night, he finished unbeaten on 30 off 16 balls but CSK lost the match.
Chepauk was on its feet again. As MS Dhoni walked out to bat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the chants of “Dhoni! Dhoni!” echoed through the MA Chidambaram stadium. CSK needed 98 runs from just 24 balls. The match was as good as gone. But that didn’t matter to the crowd. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) hero was out in the middle.
Dhoni did what he usually does these days — launched a few late sixes, connected a couple of fours, and finished unbeaten on 30 off 16 balls. It looked great in the highlights package. But CSK lost the game by 50 runs.
“When you have a par score in mind and you are chasing 20 extra you always want to stay ahead. So that was just the thinking. But at the end we didn’t lose by a big margin, it was just 50 runs,” Ruturaj Gaikwad said in the post-match presentation, leading to further criticism on social media and elsewhere.
This has become a pattern.
In crunch chases, Dhoni walks in at No.8 or even No.9 — after the game is more or less out of reach. In the last two seasons since the impact player came into force, he’s consistently batted behind players like Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Santner, and Shivam Dube. By the time he arrives, the required rate is sky-high. He plays a few dot balls, then finishes with fireworks when it’s too late.
Take a look at the numbers.
Since the start of the Impact Player era in 2023, MS Dhoni has hit 12 fours and 12 sixes in losing run-chases. In contrast, in winning run-chases, he hasn’t hit a single boundary — not even one four or six. Zero.
The stat is as shocking as it is telling. Dhoni’s big shots only come when the result is a foregone conclusion. His most notable recent innings in chases — 32* vs RR in 2023, 37* vs DC in 2024, 26* vs GT in 2024, 25* vs RCB in 2024, and now 30* vs RCB in 2025 — were all during hopeless situations with the game practically lost before he started finding the boundary.
Let’s break down these losing knocks in run-chases. Bear in mind that these are also the only times he batted more than 10 balls in run-chases since 2023, when the impact player came into existence.
Dhoni walked out at No.8 with CSK needing 63 runs off 30 balls. He scored 32* off 17, including some clean hits in the final overs. But by the time he began attacking, CSK needed 40 off just 12 balls. He was on 17 off 11 before launching into a mini assault, but it was too little, too late. CSK lost the game by just three runs, but the chase was already out of hand when Dhoni started swinging freely.
Again batting at No.8, Dhoni came in with CSK needing 72 off 23 balls. He made 37* off 16 balls, a rapid cameo on paper. But context matters. He walked in after Sameer Rizvi and Ravindra Jadeja — both of whom failed to accelerate. Dhoni himself was on 17 off 10 balls before the final over, when CSK needed 41 from six balls. A few big hits followed, but the match was long gone. CSK lost by 20 runs.
This was arguably the clearest example of poor batting order strategy. CSK needed 67 from 20 balls when Dhoni came in — again at No.8. He ended with 26* off 11, but 16 of those came in the final over off Rashid Khan, including two sixes and a four. The problem? The game was already out of reach. Jadeja had batted ahead of him when the match was still within touching distance. CSK lost by 35 runs.
This match had playoff qualification riding on it. CSK needed 90 off 30 balls to win, but more crucially, 72 off 30 to qualify. Dhoni entered at No.8 again, after Santner and Rizvi. He made 25* off 13 balls, but the urgency never came early enough. With 12 balls left, CSK needed 35 to qualify — Dhoni was on 13 off 7. CSK finished 10 runs short of qualification, losing the game by 27 runs. Once again, Dhoni’s finishing touches came too late to matter.
The latest example. Just last night, Dhoni walked in at No.9 with CSK needing 98 runs from 24 balls. He sent Ashwin and Jadeja ahead of him. The game was technically still alive. But Dhoni took seven balls to get to five runs. Then came the flourish — a few sixes and a four to reach 30* off 16. But the match was dead long before. CSK were crushed by 50 runs.
These aren’t isolated cameos. There’s a clear pattern that shows CSK and the fans are possibly more keen on these mini exhibitions that turn over revenue than winning games.
And in most of these matches, Dhoni didn’t even promote himself. He chose to come in behind bowlers or less established batters while the match was still alive, only to bat once the pressure was off.
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This isn’t about age or ability anymore. It’s about intent. Dhoni still has the power game at 43, and we have seen that. He still connects sweetly. But instead of using it when it could change a result, he waits too long. The crowd gets what they want — a few big hits and a moment to cheer. But the team doesn’t get what it needs — a real shot at winning.
In the impact player era, finishing games has become even more important. The teams need players who don’t just look good when the game is gone, but step up when it’s on the line. So far, Dhoni hasn’t done that. And CSK keep paying the price, or do they?
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