IPL 2025: MS Dhoni Surprised by Player of the Match Award After Quickfire Finish in CSK Win Over LSG

MS Dhoni said he didn’t expect to win the Player of the Match award after helping CSK break their losing streak in IPL 2025. Playing against LSG in Lucknow on Monday, April 14, Dhoni played a fun and quick knock of 26 runs from just 11 balls, which helped Chennai Super Kings win the match by 5 wickets.

The last time Dhoni won the Player of the Match award was on March 31, 2019, during a game against Rajasthan Royals, where he scored 75 runs. This was his 18th Player of the Match award in the IPL. However, Dhoni was surprised to receive the recognition after the win. He mentioned that he thought Noor Ahmad, who only gave away 13 runs in his four overs, and the new ball bowlers, had performed well on the day.

"Even I was wondering why are you guys giving me the Player of the Match award. I think Noor bowled really well today. I feel the new ball bowlers bowled really well as well," said Dhoni.

Dhoni said the win was important for CSK and will boost their confidence moving forward. "It's good to win a game. When you play a tournament like this, it's good to win. Unfortunately, things have not gone our way. There can be lot of things but this win will give us a lot of confidence. It was a tough game but glad to get over the line on the winning side," said Dhoni.

Dhoni: "We Struggled in Powerplay, Need to Bat Freely"

Also, he said that his team had been having a tough time during the powerplay, both while batting and bowling, in the last few matches. He mentioned that it was important for the batters to play freely and support each other as a team on the day.

"I think in the powerplay we were slightly struggling to get going in our bowling. We did well in the middle overs and ended the innings on a strong note in the death. There have been instances where the opposition got off to a good start but we came back strong and were able to restrict them to a total around the par score. We were not getting the kind of start which we wanted as a batting unit and the fall of wickets were concerning. One of the reasons could be the Chennai wickets which is slightly on the slower side. The batting unit have done well away from home. It's very important to express as a batting group," said Dhoni.

He also added that the bowling performance in the match against LSG was a big improvement and looked much stronger overall.

"Well, so far yes the bowling unit is doing better than the batting unit. We have made some changes. We need bowlers who do well in the powerplay. We were putting a lot of pressure on Ash as he was bowling 2 overs in the powerplay. We made a few changes where we wanted more bowlers who could bowl in the powerplay. I think this attack is a much better one. As a bowling unit we have done well but as a batting unit, I think we could've done better," said Dhoni.

ALSO READ: IPL 2025 Points Table: Updated Team Ranking, Standings, and Net Run Rate After CSK vs LSG Match