NEW DELHI: Former Chennai Super Kings star Suresh Raina has come down heavily on the CSK management following the team’s continued struggles in IPL 2025. Raina expressed his disappointment after CSK suffered a five-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chepauk on Friday, a loss that left their playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
Raina, speaking on Star Sports Network, said MS Dhoni’s deep involvement in the team’s operations meant poor auction decisions were unlikely during his peak years.
“Kashi sir has handled the administration for 30-40 years now, and now Rupa ma’am is managing cricket affairs like player recruitment. In the past, even if MS wasn’t physically at the auction, he was involved in every discussion. But this time, MS knows it was not a good auction… (Dhoni asa auction nahi kar shakta) Dhoni would never have allowed a bad auction,” Raina said.
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Highlighting Dhoni’s commitment, Raina pointed out that even at 43, Dhoni is still leading from the front, keeping wickets and captaining the side with full effort.
“He’s playing for the brand, the name, and the fans. But what about the others? Players bought for Rs 18–20 crores aren’t stepping up when it matters.”
Raina emphasised that some of the long-serving players continue to repeat mistakes, and accountability is needed. “MS doesn’t need anyone to tell him what’s going wrong. The way he walked off after the toss and post-match, a big meeting is surely on the cards,” Raina concluded.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad broke their Chepauk jinx with a comfortable chase of 155, riding on Ishan Kishan’s 44 and Kamindu Mendis’s unbeaten 32.
Hyderabad’s bowlers, led by Harshal Patel (4-28) and Pat Cummins (2-21), restricted CSK to just 154.
Chennai’s batting woes continued as Shaik Rasheed, Sam Curran, and Ayush Mahtre fell cheaply, despite Dewald Brevis’ promising 42 on debut.
With their seventh defeat, CSK, currently down in the last position on the IPL points table, now face an uphill task to reach the playoffs.
