IPL 2025: CSK need to reboot ahead of next season, will MS Dhoni be part of it?

IPL 2025: CSK in need of a reboot. Will MS Dhoni play next season?

The game was inconsequential for both teams. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are done with this year's IPL. The two wooden-spooners faced off at Kotla on Tuesday, and although Royals secured a consolation win, the focus was more on CSK. MS Dhoni’s presence was a reason. Also, they are a high-profile franchise, with five IPL titles in their bag.

This has been a season to forget for CSK. The loss to Royals all but ensured that they would finish at the foot of the table. They had failed to qualify for the playoffs last term as well. But this year, they never looked like getting there. The problem started with a poor auction, where the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Tripathi and Deepak Hooda were bought.

The franchise forked out Rs 14.85 crore for the three players (Ashwin for Rs 9.75 crore) who are past their sell-by dates in T20 cricket. It reeked of an outdated mindset. Out there in the middle, they played an outdated brand of T20 cricket until it dawned on them that they had fallen by the wayside.

The method – a slow-burn batting approach and relying on experienced players at the expense of youth – that served them so well over the years has become passé. They need to reboot to move forward, although head coach Stephen Fleming is not in favour of a radical overhaul. “No, I don’t care how old players are,” he told reporters ahead of the Royals game. “I do like experience though, experience has served us really well over the proud years that we have had. It hasn’t worked out quite well for us this year and that could be a bit of form. It can be strategy, it can be a number of things that just don’t quite work out.”

Behind the scenes though, there’s an acceptance that the template needs to be changed. The team’s mid-season recruitments - Ayush Mhatre (17), Urvil Patel (26) and Dewald Brevis (22) – pointed towards a shift, not just in terms of age but also profile-wise. The inclusion of Mhatre and Patel has given impetus to CSK’s approach in Powerplays. Brevis, probably the biggest positive of the season, has filled the void of a middle-order enforcer. They are going to be part of the team’s future.

The bigger question, will MS Dhoni be part of it? At this franchise, he has the licence to play as long as he wants. But the wicketkeeper-batsman will turn 44 in July, and with a dodgy knee, will he be keen to play one more season? Dhoni does care for CSK, else he wouldn’t have assumed the leadership role again after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out due to an elbow injury. But Father Time spares no-one, and as a batsman he has become a luxury for his team. Whatever he does is a bonus.

The veteran has scored 196 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 135.17 in this year’s IPL. He no longer remains a match-winner. Against Royals, his 16 off 17 balls was a reason why CSK lost momentum during the back-end of their innings.

“We will not ask him (Dhoni), we never do,” CSK chief executive Kasi Viswanathan recently told this correspondent. “If he takes a decision, he will tell us. So far, he hasn’t told us anything (about retirement).”

It is learnt that inside the camp there’s a feeling that the team needs to tie up a lot of loose ends before next season, and letting go of Dhoni at this time might not be a good idea.