Dhoni says CSK 'need to take some catches' after falling 'slightly short'

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni summed up his team's performance after the five-wicket loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS) by saying that their score of 190 was "slightly short of par" and that his team should have taken more catches. CSK, with their eighth loss in 10 games, have become the first team of IPL 2025 to be knocked out of the playoffs race.

"I think the batting, yes, it was the first time when we had put enough runs on the board, but was it a par score? I feel [we were] slightly short," Dhoni said after the game. "So yes, a bit demanding from the batsmen, but I felt we could have got slightly more. That partnership between [Dewald] Brevis and Sam [Curran] was excellent. And I feel we need to take some catches because that really helps to take wickets, you can slow down the opposition. Other than that, I feel from the batting unit as a whole, I felt it was a good effort."

CSK were at one point well on course to post a 200-plus total when the partnership of 78 off 50 runs between Curran and Brevis shot their run rate past 10 in the middle overs, placing the team on 126 for 3 after 14 overs. However, Brevis fell at the start of the next over and once Curran was dismissed for 88 off 47 in the 18th over, CSK managed only 18 runs off the remaining 14 deliveries. CSK didn't last all 20 overs though; they were bowled out in 19.2 overs after Yuzvendra Chahal took four wickets - including a hat-trick - in the 19th over. They slipped from 172 for 4 to 190 all out, losing six wickets for just 18 runs. Dhoni said that losing those three wickets to Chahal and not playing out the entire innings also made a difference.

"Not to forget when it's a high-scoring games, we didn't play the last four deliveries and the second last over, we got four batsmen out, another three deliveries and in close games, seven deliveries means a lot," he said.

CSK's below-par batting performances have been a theme for them this season. They have the worst run rate (8.23) so far in this IPL. They brought in changes at the top of the order by replacing senior players with youngsters like Shaik Rasheed (20) and Ayush Mhatre (17), and they lost their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to a shoulder injury in the middle of the season. Some of their batters like Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Tripathi didn't fire the way they were expected to, which hurt their performances from the start.

Dhoni, however, was pleased to see Curran coming good with the bat after three single-digit scores after finally getting the kind of pitch they wanted at home.

"Whenever he turns up, he wants to contribute, whether it's with the bat or with the ball," Dhoni said. "So unfortunately, so far, when we tried to give him a chance the wicket was on the slower side and he found it slightly difficult. But I felt today's wicket was one of the best that we have got in the tournament when it comes to the home venue. So I feel the wicket was really good and that's the reason I felt we needed another 15 runs."