MS Dhoni has broken his silence on CSK’s below-par IPL performance and namedropped Royal Challengers Bengaluru. CSK haven’t reached the second round in the past three IPL seasons.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been struggling in IPL since winning the title in 2023 and they haven’t reached the second round of the T20 league since then. The Yellow Army entered a new era before IPL 2024 as MS Dhoni stepped down as captain. Ruturaj Gaikwad took over CSK’s captaincy and he has been leading the five-time IPL Champions since then. Ruturaj-led CSK failed to qualify for the second round of IPL 2024 after losing to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their last league stage game.
Ruturaj was ruled out of IPL 2025 during the first half. CSK failed to clear the league stage. CSK finished eighth in the IPL 2026 points table under Ruturaj’s captaincy.
Five months after IPL 2026, MS Dhoni has finally broken his silence on the team’s below-par form and namedropped RCB, who were one of the most struggling teams before their back-to-back IPL titles in 2025 and 2026.
“The last two years, you know, we have struggled, and it’s a fact. You know, there’s no point shying away from the fact that RCB has done really, really well. And you know that that’s how life is. You have good times, you have bad times, but you know how you come out of it, what are the things that you want to work on as a team, those are the crucial things,” Dhoni said at a recent event.
“Because, you know, when we are winning, we knew that there’ll come a point when we’ll start losing, and the real test of character is when you’re not doing well,” he added
RCB, CSK and Mumbai Indians (MI) are the only three teams to win back-to-back IPL titles. RCB will create history and become the first team to win three back-to-back IPL titles if they win the trophy in 2027.