Lucknow: Chennai Super Kings broke their 5-match losing streak with a win at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Monday.

As a bowling unit we’ve done well

CSK captain MS Dhoni was named the Player of the Match for his top-notch wicketkeeping behind the stumps and his knock of 26* off 11 balls.

Speaking after the game, Dhoni took a sharp dig at the pitch provided to them in Chennai and called for better wickets at home going forward.

Chennai Super Kings have had a woeful start to the Indian Premier League 2025 season, winning just 2 matches out of 7. They have been especially poor at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which was even till last year considered a fortress for the side. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Dhoni was asked about the side’s timid show. The talismanic captain replied that one of the reasons behind their results was the Chennai pitch, which has not let them express themselves as a batting group.

“One of the reasons could be that the Chennai wicket is slightly on the slower side. When we have played away from home, the batting unit has done slightly better. Maybe we need to play on wickets that are slightly better so that it’ll give the batters confidence to play their shots. You don’t want to play timid cricket,” Dhoni said after the match.

“As a bowling unit we’ve done well. As a batting unit, we can do better,” he added.

Prior to the Lucknow game, the entire CSK team had just hit 32 sixes, one more than Nicholas Pooran’s tally in this IPL. Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming had also complained about the pitch earlier in the tournament, stating that they have not been able to read the Chennai pitch at all.

CSK are not the only team who have complained about the wicket this season. Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Ajinkya Rahane and Lucknow Super Giants bowling coach Zaheer Khan had complained about the pitches that seemingly suited the strengths of the opponents better than the home team.