MS Dhoni "Knows CSK Have Not Bought Players...": "Rs 18 Crore, Rs 17 Crore, Rs 12 Crore" Questioned

Chennai Super Kings' chances of qualifying for the IPL 2025 are all but over. With their latest defeat to SunRisers Hyderabad on Friday, CSK have now lost seven of the nine games played. The five-time champions are lying at the bottom of the points table. Whatever could go wrong for CSK, has gone wrong for the MS Dhoni-led side. Dhoni was not supposed to lead the side this year but after designated captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled, the legendary ex-India captain took over. However, the fortunes have not changed for CSK.

Dhoni's long-time teammate in the Indian cricket team and CSK, Suresh Raina, feels the side got it wrong in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

"Kasi Viswanathan has been handling the administration for a long time. Rupa ma'a, is handling buying the player, administration etc. MS knows, whoever is sitting, this time players have not been bought properly," Raina said on Star Sports.

"Who is accountable for player selection in auction - is it the management or is it fully MS Dhoni?" the anchor asked.

"They always make a call to MS. But to be very honest, I have never attended any of the auctions. I was never a part of those discussions. I always talked about the players who were retained. MS might get a call about whether to go ahead with a player or not - but he's not that involved," Raina replied.

"The core group handles the auction - you can imagine, Dhoni can't have this type of auction. He would maybe name four or five players he wants, and out of them, a few would be retained. Even if an uncapped player is working hard, look at MS Dhoni-—being a 43-year-old captain, still giving everything. He is giving that effort, what are the other 10 players doing. What are the guys doing who are earning Rs 18 crore, Rs 17 crore, Rs 12 crore. They are not responding to the captain."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a player who has successfully stood the test of time reached his 400th T20 game landmark during Chennai Super Kings' clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.

His stellar T20 career, which has seen him captain India to the 2007 T20 World Cup victory and had a massive role in leading CSK to five Indian Premier League titles, has seen him score 7566 runs at a strike rate of 135.90.

Although at 44 years of age, Dhoni's batting may not be at the peak of his prowess with the bat but he is still lightning quick behind the stumps and holds the record of most stumpings in the format with 34 to his name.

With IANS inputs

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