"Will Have To Play Under New Captain": Fuming Dhoni Warns CSK. Here's Why

Chennai Super Kings won their first home match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday as they defeated the Kl Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. In the high-scoring match, CSK notched 217/7 in 20 overs. LSG, despite a good start, managed 205/7 runs in 20 overs. Though CSK won, their bowlers were guilty of conceding too many extras - 18 (leg-byes - 2, wides - 13, no balls - 3). In CSK's first match too, against Gujarat Titans, the bowlers conceded a whopping 12 extras (lb 6, w 4, nb 2).

CSK captain MS Dhoni issued a huge warning for his bowlers. "Fast bowling we need to slightly improve. Need to bowl according to the conditions. What is important is to keep an eye as to what the opposition bowlers are doing. One more thing is they'll have to bowl no no-balls or extra wides, or they'll have to play under a new captain. It will be my second warning and then I'll be off," he said. 

Dhoni was also surprised by the pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. "It was a terrific game, high-scoring game. All of us were thinking how the wicket will be. We had that doubt. It was a high-scoring game. Overall I think it was a perfect first game that happened and it was a full house for the first game in 5 or 6 years since we've been here," Dhoni said.

"I thought it will be much slower. It was a wicket where you could score runs but overall it got a bit slower. We'll have to see how it plays over the next six games at home but hopefully we can score here. Even if it's on the flatter side, force batters to hit over the fielders."

#CSK bowlers today bowled 13 wides and 3 no balls against #LSG and Captain @msdhoni, in his inimitable style, had this to say. #TATAIPL | #CSKvLSG pic.twitter.com/p6xRqaZCiK

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 3, 2023

Talking about the game, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway and Moeen Ali starred for Chennai Super Kings to help the team post a 12-run win over Lucknow Super Giants at their fortress -- the M A Chidambaram stadium -- in their opening home match. Gaikwad slammed his second successive fifty and shared 110 runs for the opening wicket with Conway (47 off 29) as CSK posted a commanding 217 for 7 after being sent into bat.

Gaikwad, after his 92 in the opening game, smashed 57 off 31 with three fours and four sixes. Conway, who hit five boundaries and two hits over the fence, gave him good support.

And then Moeen Ali returned with fine figures of 4 for 26 from his overs to help CSK restrict LSG to 205 for seven.

With PTI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

MS Dhoni Chennai Super Kings Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2023 Cricket