'Thala for no reason': Fans slam MS Dhoni for CSK's poor show in IPL 2025

Five-time IPL-winning champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) became the first team to be booted out of the IPL 2025 league stage following a disappointing league stage performance. Shockingly, that performance has continued, especially with the team’s middle order.

In a highly-charged clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) yesterday, the MS Dhoni-led side fell short of two runs, thus continuing their losing streak. Having won just 2 out of their 11 matches so far, the fandom appears to have been heavily shocked by their team’s performance this IPL and quite many have blamed this on Dhoni.

MS Dhoni failed to revive CSK’s fortunes

The 43-year-old is the oldest player of this season and took over the captaincy from an injured Ruturaj Gaikwad mid-season. While many hoped that the change of leadership would revive CSK’s fortunes, nothing extraordinary happened, with Dhoni himself struggling to get runs out of the bat, something which he admitted during the post-match conference yesterday.

In the meantime, disheartened fans took to social media to express their anguish and anger. Amid a barrage of memes mocking them from the RCB side, CSK fans threw their blame at the former World Cup-winning captain.

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Viral memes take the spotlight

A viral meme among these featured a group of children, all CSK fans, commenting on how they “lost Rs 55,000”. To add to this context, this group had come along with their family of seventeen members and thus, with tickets and extra expenses, had spent quite a lot to witness CSK winning that crucial fixture against RCB, which turned out to be a disappointment.

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A young girl, remarking that “Dhoni is Thala for no reason”, became a standout highlight, showcasing that even the youngest of fans were heartbroken and had apparently lost their faith in MS Dhoni, who was once considered the saving grace of CSK.