IPL 2025 | Dhoni's presence affecting balance as CSK face tricky Punjab test

Mullanpur; The distinct lack of firepower in Mahendra Singh Dhoni's death overs batting is a sensitive area that Chennai Super Kings need to address ahead of their away IPL clash against Punjab Kings here on Tuesday.

In one of their worst starts to an IPL season, CSK have now completed a hat-trick of defeats, all while chasing.

While Punjab Kings lost their previous game against Rajasthan Royals at home but on current form as well as on paper, Shreyas Iyer's side looks more well-rounded than CSK who are grappling with combination problems.

Dhoni's presence at the back-end, which once was considered a boon, is turning into bane for the 'Yellow Brigade'.

But such is the aura of the man playing his 18th IPL season (only one apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma), that no one in the CSK ranks can probably walk up to the man and show him the mirror.

While 'Brand Dhoni' still rules the hearts of CSK aficionados and cheer is deafening when he enters the turf, the game against Delhi Capitals was certainly an awakening for his supporters that there is more to a team than their 'Beloved Thala' and probably it's time to move on.

The opposition teams now expect to bat first and somehow score anything above 180 knowing that it would be an uphill task for CSK unless Shivam Dube fires.

Now Dube is a muscular hit and miss kind of a player and odds of his success with his template will always be 50-50.

Dhoni's greatness in all these years has been his immaculate sense of timing whether it is bidding adieu to captaincy or retiring from international game. Will he decide himself once again or wait for the nudge? With Dhoni being the same player and no one to "bell the cat", CSK are in unusual mess with a mis-firing top-order where the skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has had to give up his opening slot.

"No, that's not my role to put an end to it. I have no idea. I'm just enjoying working with him. He's still going strong. I don't even ask these days. You guys are the ones that ask (about retirement)," head coach Stephen Fleming's helplessness was evident after the 25-run loss to DC where the former skipper didn't even try at times to go for big shots.

Match-up against Chahal could be interesting

Yuzvendra Chahal, the seasoned leg-spinner, will certainly play a key role against Chennai Super Kings as he enjoys a favourable match-up against his former India captain.

Chahal and Dhoni have been pitted against each other 10 times in various IPL games and the Haryana bowler has dismissed the legend five times.

For Punjab Kings, skipper Iyer and young Nehal Wadhera's form keeps them in good stead.

Teams ==== Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi (wk), Andre Siddarth.

Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Pyla Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Pannu, Aaron Hardie, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai Match Starts at 7:30 pm.