Courtesy: BCCI/IPL/X
On Saturday, April 5, Manoj Tiwary made a big statement about his ex-Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and India teammate MS Dhoni following a tough match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost by 25 runs against Delhi Capitals (DC) despite the presence of MS Dhoni at the crease in the second half of the run chase, Manoj Tiwary questioned his involvement with the franchise, stating that he should have retired from the IPL in 2023, and now, he is losing his respect.
Notably, after managing to keep DC to 183/6 in their allotted 20 overs despite a fifty from KL Rahul at the Chepauk, CSK had a reasonable chance to chase down the runs, and register their second win of the IPL 2025 season. But DC bowlers were exceptional around the first half of the innings, keeping them down to 74/5 in 10.4 overs before MS Dhoni arrived at the crease, and tried to give stability to the innings alongside Vijay Shankar.
In the last two years, he is getting lost: Manoj Tiwary on MS Dhoni
Although CSK innings got on track in the second half, Dhoni (30* off 26) and Shankar (69* off 54) were unable to hit boundaries consistently, getting restricted to 158/5 in their allotted 20 overs. While discussing the performance of MS Dhoni in the match with Cricbuzz, Manoj Tiwary said, “Forgive me if I'm being a little strict here. He (MS Dhoni) should have retired after the 2023 IPL; it was his best time. With all the respect he has earned over the years, fans have not been able to see him in the last two years, and he is getting lost. Look at how the Chennai fans are reacting, coming out on the roads and giving those interviews.”
Following that, Manoj Tiwary also questioned how MS Dhoni can keep wickets for 20 overs, but not bat for more than 10 overs as stated by CSK head coach Stephen Fleming. He remarked, “He (MS Dhoni) is making the effort. Stephen Fleming also said Dhoni cannot bat more than 10 overs. But I can't understand, when you can field for more than 20 overs, where you have to sit up and down, dive to take catches, make runouts, then your knee doesn't hurt, but when it comes to helping the team win, you talk about 10 overs.”
“All the decisions are being taken around him, but nothing is working for the team. I feel they should take a strong call and make him understand that it's not working and that he should leave," Manoj Tiwary added.
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