Suresh Raina blames CSK management for poor show in IPL 2025, says 'Dhoni aisa auction nahi kar sakta'

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are having a tough time in IPL 2025 , sitting at the bottom of the points table with just 2 wins from 9 matches. Many fans have been questioning what went wrong, and now CSK legend Suresh Raina has openly blamed the team management for the poor performance.

Suresh Raina defends MS Dhoni

Speaking after CSK’s 5-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the first time at Chepauk, Raina pointed out that CSK’s auction strategy was not good this season. He said that CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, who has handled administration for 30-40 years, and Rupa, who now looks after player recruitment, were responsible for building the team.

“In the past, even if MS (Dhoni) wasn’t physically present at the auction, he was involved in every discussion. But this time, MS knows it was not a good auction… (Dhoni aisa auction nahi kar sakta) Dhoni would never have allowed a bad auction,” Raina said.

“They always say MS Dhoni makes the final call. But honestly, I never saw him attend auctions. He might give input on a few players, but he’s not deeply involved,” he added.

Raina defended Dhoni, saying at 43 years old, Dhoni is still giving everything to the team, from keeping wickets to captaining the side. But he slammed the expensive players CSK bought this season, saying, “Players bought for 18 crore, 17 crore, 12 crore are not stepping up.”

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra also spoke on the issue, saying that CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad should not be blamed for the team’s failure because he didn’t build this team himself. “I don’t think this team was made by Ruturaj and he shouldn’t be blamed for this,” Chopra said.

CSK have lost 7 of their first 9 matches and have a very poor Net Run Rate (NRR) of -1.302. Their next matches are against Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Kolkata Knight Riders, and they must win all to keep any slim playoff hopes alive.