CSK veteran and IPL great MS Dhoni faced wrath for his failed attempt at helping his team complete a run chase in IPL 2025. Unlike in the previous game, (where) he came out to bat at number nine (at a time) when his team had already lost the game (against RCB at home); against RR, Dhoni walked in a bit earlier, but even that failed to change the outcome as they lost by six runs. Former South Africa batter Herschelle Gibbs had his say on Dhoni"s stance in the team after CSK's second straight loss this edition. Advertisment Addressing the media after Chennai"s second loss, head coach Stephen Fleming encountered a sea of questions surrounding MS Dhoni"s batting at the death, saying the 43-year-old veteran is now a pale shadow of himself and that he cannot bat for ten overs straight like he used to do before. Citing Dhoni"s prolonged knee issues and how it restricts his flow as a batter, Fleming said Dhoni balances out by trying to play to the conditions, granting more opportunities for other batters to get the job done. Also read | IPL 2025: MS Dhoni"s heartwarming gesture towards Rahul Dravid after match wins the internet-WATCH Advertisment"Yeah, it's a time thing," Fleming said of Dhoni"s batting and his position in the XI. "MS judges it. His body is… his knees aren't what they used to be. And he's moving okay, but there's still an attrition aspect to it. He can't bat ten overs running full stick. So he will gauge on the day what he can give us. If the game's in the balance like today, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. So he's balancing that." Against Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni walked into bat in the 16th over when Chennai needed beyond 50 runs to win. Alongside his longtime India and CSK batting partner Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni tried seeking singles earlier; although he was successful in hitting a boundary and a six, with both coming too late when the asking rate was above 20, Dhoni failed to make it count in the last over as he got out on the second ball (off Sandeep Sharma), caught in the deep. What did Gibbs say? Advertisment MS Dhoni announced his international retirement in August 2020, and thanks to an IPL rule that allows a retired Indian cricketer to play as an uncapped player under one condition that his last international game must be at least five years before the auction date, which was the case with Dhoni. As a result, CSK retained him for the minimum base price of INR 4 crore in December last year. However, besides the IPL, Dhoni doesn"t play any cricket, with Gibbs, replying to an ESPNcricinfo post on X, saying these are the repercussions a team will face for expecting too much from a batter who doesn"t play any cricket across the year outside of IPL. "Expecting too much from a man that doesn"t play any other cricket," Gibbs posted on X. Expecting too much from a man that doesn"t play any other cricket https://t.co/EUwuN7lE5d — Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) March 31, 2025 (With inputs from agencies)