'MS Dhoni's presence stalls the rise of new leaders...': Ex-India star makes shocking claim on CSK

Despite their thumping 83-run victory over league-leaders Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would want to forget their IPL 2025 campaign. The five-time IPL champions were only able to record a total of four victories throughout the season and on the other hand, ended up losing on 10 occasions.

CSK's poor performance in IPL 2025

This abysmal performance saw them finish at the bottom of the IPL standings, accumulating just eight points from 14 league games. Though the Chennai-based franchise did suffer from many injuries during the season including their regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who got ruled out mid-way through the season due to an elbow fracture, they cannot give it as the sole excuse for their severely poor performances.

Following the end of CSK's campaign, former India head coach Sanjay Bangar gave a shocking remark on the side and their icon MS Dhoni. The former cricketer stated that Dhoni's presence has stalled the growth of new leaders within the side, adding that both Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja have always remained under the 43-year-old's shadow.

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"Ruturaj & Jadeja remain under Dhoni's shadow, never truly taking their own leap. Always mirroring MS's mindset, they miss the chance to evolve but Dhoni's presence keeps it locked, stalling the rise of new leaders," Bangar said on Star Sports.

Meanwhile, CSK made a severe dent to GT's bid of finishing in the top two on the IPL points table on Sunday. The Chennai-based franchise had saved their best performance of the season for the last match and the team completely controlled the game against the Gujarat-based franchise from the start.

After posting a humongous total of 230/5 in 20 overs thanks to gritty fifties from Devon Conway and Dewald Brevis, the bowlers did a fine job and bundled out the table-toppers for just 147 runs. Anshul Kamboj and Noor Ahmad picked up three wickets each while Jadeja also chipped in with two as the GT batting order crumbled.

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Noor finished his four-over spell with figures of 3/21 and with this, his wicket tally for the season reached 24. Following the match, the left-arm spinner was awarded with the Purple Cap as he overtook GT pacer Prasidh Krishna and became the highest-wicket taker of the ongoing season.