"MS Dhoni would never build a team like this in the auction"- Suresh Raina

Sunrisers Hyderabad handed Chennai Super Kings their seventh defeat in the Indian Premier League 2025 on Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. MS Dhoni and Co. needed to win against SRH to keep their hopes alive for qualification in the playoffs. However, a five-wicket loss pushed them closer to elimination. Amidst a forgettable season, there has been a lot of criticism with regards to CSK’s strategy in the Indian Premier League mega-auction. The Yellow Army opted for players like Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda and Rahul Tripathi, who haven’t shown the best of form. 

Meanwhile, a lot of question marks have also been raised at MS Dhoni for building a team that lacked power-hitters and young aggressive players. However, former CSK star Suresh Raina reckoned that MS Dhoni has hardly any say in CSK’s auction strategy. He mentioned that while team management would talk to MS Dhoni during the auction, he wasn’t deeply involved in the team’s operations.  

"They always say MS Dhoni makes the final call. But to be very honest, I 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." Suresh Raina told Star Sports. 

"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." Raina added.

Raina further pointed out several other important players in the team who haven't lived up to the billing. He reckoned that while Dhoni has faced much of the criticism, the other players must also take accountability.  Chennai Super Kings are slated to play their next game against Punjab Kings at home on Wednesday.