“What the f**k is going on” - Former India batter’s brutal take on MS Dhoni during IPL 2025

Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa has questioned MS Dhoni walking in to bat at No.9 for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their all-important clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 28. In one of the most stunning moments of the 2025 IPL season, Dhoni did not come out to bat ahead of even Ravichandran Ashwin at No.8 in a massive run-chase against RCB.

Set a target of 197 for victory, CSK stumbled to 80 for 6 in the 13th over when Ashwin walked into bat. Finally, Dhoni came in at No.9 with the game already out of reach at 99 for 7 in the 16th over.

The champion wicketkeeper batter smashed a quickfire 30* off 16 balls even as CSK suffered a 50-run defeat to their arch-rivals.

Reflecting on the same on The KimAppa show, Uthappa said (via Hindustan Times):

"Frustrated. F*****g frustrated. What the f**k is going on, dude! He might as well have (batted even lower than No. 9). It wouldn’t have made a difference. I would say ‘befuddlement’ is too weak a term. What the heck! Like what is the thinking? Because you know you won’t win the game by the time he’s coming to bat. By the time (Ravichandran) Ashwin’s coming to bat, you know you have less than a slim chance of winning the game."

He added:

"The only thing you can give yourself the best chance to do is reduce that net run rate. The margins in the IPL are so slim at the back end that you want to keep your net run rate as much in the positive as possible, right?"

Dhoni coming into bat as late as he did sparked outrage on social media with fans and several former players slamming the move. The 43-year-old batted down the order at No.7 and 8 for most of IPL 2024 also, facing only 73 balls throughout the season despite striking at an incredible rate of over 220.

"If push comes to shove, I’m going to be there" - Robin Uthappa

MS Dhoni's batting position has been a major talking point thus far in IPL 2025 [Credit: Getty]

Robin Uthappa believes MS Dhoni should bat up the order at least in the times when CSK are in desperate need of an impactful innings. Following the criticisms of the RCB clash, Dhoni came into bat at No.7 in the recent encounter against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday, March 30.

Despite scoring a breezy 16 off 11 balls in a run-chase of 183, CSK suffered a second consecutive loss by six runs.

"What confuses me is that the asking rate was so high in the 13th and 14th over (in the game vs RCB). I was like, there’s no way MS is going to come below number eight cause at number eight, you still felt like I want the other guys to take the chunk of the workload, so if push comes to shove, I’m going to be there," said Uthappa (as per the aforementioned source).

He added:

"Here push came to shove and then went some more as well, and still he had turned up, and then you’re wondering what’s the thinking behind this because it doesn’t augur well for CSK.

Dhoni will be back in action next when CSK looks to snap the two-game losing streak against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in Chennai on Saturday, April 5.