MS Dhoni Returns as Chennai Super Kings Captain, Walks Out to Toss Against Kolkata Knight Riders

The MA Chidambaram Stadium erupted in delight as MS Dhoni walked out for the toss, leading Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders

The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was buzzing with excitement on Friday as MS Dhoni walked out to lead Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL 2025 clash.

The two captains, Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane, spun the coin for the crucial encounter, while Ravi Shastri took charge of presenting the toss.

The two captains and the toss representatives for the high-profile encounter.

Dhoni, listening to Shastri’s booming voice, couldn’t quite contain his smile upon hearing the word ‘uncapped’. The Chepauk crowd, already buzzing with anticipation, only grew louder as Shastri added his trademark flair to the pre-match moment.

Toss@KKRiders won the toss and elected to bowl against @ChennaiIPL in Chennai.

Updates https://t.co/gPLIYGimQn#TATAIPL | #CSKvKKR pic.twitter.com/r2GTOQ6cvc— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2025

Dhoni returned as the CSK captain for the first time in 683 days. Dhoni took over from Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was ruled out after suffering a hairline fracture in his elbow.

Dhoni was retained by CSK before the IPL mega auction as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore. Notably, the BCCI brought back the ‘uncapped player’ rule — which allows players who have not featured for India in the last five years to be retained for a reduced sum of Rs 4 crore — for IPL 2025.

The rub of green did not go CSK’s way as MS Dhoni lost the toss. Ajinkya Rahane called it right and KKR opted to bowl first.

Dhoni, however, played down the result at the toss, saying CSK wanted to bat anyway.

CSK made two changes to their XI, bringing Rahul Tripathi in place of Ruturaj and giving Haryana’s Anshul Kamboj his debut for the franchise in place of left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary.

WHAT MS DHONI SAID AT THE TOSS

Dhoni siad it’s important that CSK look at ways to reverse their fortunes after a slow start to the season. The Super Kings have won only one of their first five matches.

“Well it is important to move ahead. We have lost too many games so far. We don’t want to lag too behind. We want to make the basics right. We want to build partnerships and also with the ball, try and bowl a few dots balls to put the batters under pressure. That’s what has been the difference. Yes, there has been a few games where we lost by a huge margin but we want to make a good comeback,” he said.

On not doing well in the powerplays, Dhoni added: “We want to do well in both the departments. We have batters who will bat really well and play authentic shots. We are not a side who will hit a lot of sixes. Rather, we will score more runs by hitting fours. It’s important for us to stick to our strength,” he added.