CSK vs KKR: Kolkata opt to bowl; Dhoni back as captain
CSK have lost four games in a row and are ninth in the table with two points while KKR are sixth with four points from five contests
MS Dhoni returned as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain, replacing the injured regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the toss and opted to field in an IPL 2025 match on Friday (April 11).
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane called it right at the toss at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. At 43 years old, Dhoni is the oldest-ever captain in the IPL. Before Friday, Dhoni had last led CSK in the final of IPL 2023 which the team won against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad.
Also read: MS Dhoni's record as captain in IPL
Moeen Ali replaced Spencer Johnson in KKR's side while CSK made two changes, Rahul Tripathi coming in for Gaikwad and Anshul Kamboj replacing Mukesh Choudhary.
CSK have lost four games in a row and are ninth in the table with two points while KKR are sixth with four points from five contests.
What captains said
Dhoni said, "We were looking to bat first. Quite a few occasions where we tried to chase it down and what we realised is that the wicket slows down a bit, so if you don't get a good start then the middle order comes under pressure."
On Gaikwad, he said, "He has fractured something on his elbow, so he is ruled out of the tournament. He is a very authentic batter, someone who looks to time the ball well. So yeah, he will be a big miss."
"It is important now, every game is important. We have lost too many matches and now it is important to do the basics right – have dot balls, take our catches. A couple of games we lost by big margins, but otherwise it was about the small things – about one over going for 20 runs. Our batters are more authentic as batters, they won't slog everything. They just need to back their instincts. It is important to start well, get boundaries early on and try to get a couple of early wickets as well," Dhoni added.
"We'll bowl first. There were a lot of positives from the last game. We as a team played really well. It is about improving each game," said Rahane.
On the pitch, he said, "This looks like a good wicket, won't change much. We are batting deep, so that's why we look to bowl first and chase things down."
Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Impact Subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy.
Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed.
Impact Subs: Matheesha Pathirana, Jamie Overton, Deepak Hooda, Shaik Rasheed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti.
