Mumbai: Following Chennai Super Kings’ victory over the Lucknow Super Giants in the TATA IPL 2025, JioStar experts Sanjay Bangar and Varun Aaron shared their insights on various aspects of the game on Kuhl Fans Match Centre Live on JioHotstar.
Speaking exclusively on JioHotstar, JioStar expert Sanjay Bangar reflected on Chennai Super Kings’ hard-fought win:
“Not exactly a smooth win because Chennai batters struggled in the middle phase of the innings. But when a team is not winning games, to get back into that winning rhythm, you require such scratchy wins. These are two points of immense value for Chennai Super Kings, and those players will realise what it means to them. Once you lose five games, the kind of energy that gets built up into the entire team—it’s not an easy place to be, but the fact that MS Dhoni still steered that successful chase was critical. In his absence, it could have gone wrong for Chennai Super Kings again. Hopefully, this scratchy win reignites their campaign in a big way.”
JioStar expert Varun Aaron also weighed in on the significance of MS Dhoni’s presence at the crease:“Having MS Dhoni at the crease is priceless, especially towards the end. I think today was one of those nights where the top order—especially the first two—gave him a reasonable target to achieve. In the previous matches, the kind of targets the lower order was getting were outrageous—needing 14 -15 runs per over—which doesn’t happen every day. But today, it was a very achievable target. And when you give MS Dhoni that, he’s going to get there more often than not. The Lucknow Super Giants bowlers bowled one-dimensionally towards the death—only went for wide lines, didn’t try a bouncer, and didn’t try a good slow ball outside the off stump. They could have been better. Not giving Ravi Bishnoi that over is going to hurt them.”
On MS Dhoni’s physical condition and his finishing ability, JioStar expert Sanjay Bangar said:
“MS Dhoni was not in his best physical shape. Towards the end of the innings, we saw him limping a little while collecting balls down the leg side. But he still pushed through and found the strength to come out and perform the way he did. Between the wickets, he wasn’t running fluently—he was struggling. But, as always, he kept his cool and stitched together that partnership. The closer it gets, the more difficult it becomes, the chances of (the opposition) making a mistake increase. That’s where MS Dhoni is so good—he sneaks it in towards the very end and finished the match brilliantly, snatching victory from the grasp of the Lucknow Super Giants.”
On Shivam Dube’s contribution and his partnership with MS Dhoni, JioStar expert Varun Aaron added:
“Shivam Dube knew how important this match was—because had they lost, it would have been very difficult for Chennai Super Kings to bounce back in the tournament. But he did what he does best, just like he has over the past couple of seasons. His power-hitting was spot-on. He hit two sixes today—before that, CSK weren’t hitting any. He also rotated the strike well and played the bowlers smartly. His partnership with MS Dhoni was crucial in helping Chennai Super Kings break a five-game losing streak—which is unheard of for CSK. Dube set the tone with a few good shots, and then Dhoni came in and used his experience once again.”
Looking ahead to the high-octane clash against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on April 20, Sanjay Bangar commented on Chennai Super Kings’ potential strategy: “CSK’s next game is going to be a tough encounter against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede because that surface and ground will put a lot of pressure on the Chennai Super Kings’ batting unit to post a big score. Their record while chasing hasn’t been great—they’ve never chased anything above 180. At Wankhede, you’re looking at a challenging game. But the following two matches—against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings at Chennai—are where CSK will have a great chance. Since MS Dhoni took over the captaincy, we’ve seen the Chennai wicket hold up well for spinners. I believe CSK will return to their three-spinner strategy at Chepauk, and that could be a big advantage for them.”
