“Have their brains stopped working?”: Manoj Tiwary blasts MS Dhoni’s blunders after KKR thrashing

Manoj Tiwary has unleashed a scathing attack on Chennai Super Kings and MS Dhoni after their team’s worst-ever defeat in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. Manoj Tiwary has pointed fingers at the Chennai Super Kings think tank for failing to fix simple on-field mistakes and questioning MS Dhoni’s decision-making under pressure against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The former Indian batter has expressed shock over tactical blunders made by Dhoni in the 25th game of the ongoing IPL 2025 at Chepauk, especially during Ravichandran Ashwin’s spell, where poor bowling angles made it too easy for Sunil Narine to go big.

Manoj Tiwary slams CSK’s strategy, questions MS Dhoni’s captaincy calls

The KKR opener played a blistering knock of 44 runs off 18 balls laced with two boundaries and five sixes to help the defending champions chase down 104 runs inside 11 overs with eight wickets at hand against CSK on Friday, April 11. But what left Tiwary fuming was the lack of interruptions from one of the game’s sharpest minds and the skipper, Dhoni, behind the stumps.

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The cricket expert has fired fresh shots at Dhoni’s captaincy by questioning whether the charismatic captain and CSK think tank’s brain stopped working as they are repeating just silly mistakes in the ongoing IPL 2025, where they have now lost five of their six games in a row.

Have their brains stopped working?: Manoj Tiwary’s brutal attack on CSK

Manoj Tiwary said on Cricbuzz, “Why do they not go to the drawing board early? I think it is obvious that you reassess after a loss. But some things that are taking place are beyond my understanding. Like, when Ashwin was bowling today, earlier to all the left-handers he bowled round the stumps, but today he bowled over the stumps.

It became very easy for Sunil Narine. These small things...when you have such an experienced player and wicketkeeper like MS Dhoni? Have their brains stopped working?”

Manoj Tiwary predicts Chennai Super Kings' downfall in IPL 2025

The former Indian batter predicted that things would only get worse for CSK from here in the ongoing IPL 2025. Tiwary especially questioned Dhoni’s surprising move to introduce Noor Ahmad late in the bowling attack despite him being the Purple Cap holder with 11 wickets in just five matches.

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Tiwary further explained, “From here on, CSK's cart is going to go downhill. It seemed like that from the last three or four matches. You see the shot selection of the players; after playing for 20-25 years, you get to realize what can happen. I couldn't understand some things. Your Purple Cap winner is Noor Ahmad, but when did he come to bowl?”

Noor was brought into the attack only in the eighth over — when KKR needed less than 20 runs to win. Shockingly, Noor struck on his very first ball, removing the dangerous Sunil Narine, which made Tiwary wonder why he wasn’t used earlier against the KKR at Chepauk.

Manoj Tiwary questions MS Dhoni's captaincy against KKR

He also noted that Dhoni rarely makes such mistakes and warned that the Chennai team might continue to struggle if such errors aren’t fixed soon.

Tiwary signed off by saying, “In the 8th over. And in the first ball itself, he scalped the wicket of Sunil Narine. Naturally, the cricket sense tells you that if the opposition spinners are doing so well, then you have the Purple Cap winner; why not bring him early?

Generally, MS Dhoni does not make such a mistake. I have not seen it in so many years. Why it happened today, maybe it is worth knowing.”