MS Dhoni’s reaction at the toss ahead of Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2025 match against Kolkata Knight Riders has gone viral after commentator Ravi Shastri referred to the legendary captain as “uncapped.” The moment unfolded at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, where Dhoni returned as CSK’s captain for the first time in 683 days. As the former India coach introduced the captains before the toss, he playfully called Dhoni “uncapped at the moment.” The 43-year-old, unable to hold back his smile, shared a light-hearted moment with Shastri as the Chepauk crowd erupted in cheers.
Dhoni was retained by CSK before the IPL 2025 mega auction under the newly reinstated “uncapped player” rule. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) allowed teams to retain players who had not featured for India in the last five years at a reduced price of Rs 4 crore.
Despite the fun exchange, the toss did not go CSK’s way. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane won the call and opted to bowl first. Both teams made changes to their playing XI. CSK brought in Rahul Tripathi to replace injured captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a fractured elbow. Anshul Kamboj replaced Mukesh Choudhary in the CSK lineup. KKR made one change, bringing in Moeen Ali for Spencer Johnson.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said the team took several positives from their last match and aimed to improve with each game. "We'll bowl first. There were a lot of positives from the last game. We as a team played really well. It is about improving each game. This looks like a good wicket, won't change much. We are batting deep, so that's why we look to bowl first and chase things down. Play to our strengths. One change - Moeen Ali comes in for Spencer," he said.
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Speaking at the toss, CSK captain MS Dhoni said they had considered batting first, as chasing on this pitch has been difficult. "We were looking to bat first. Quite a few occasions where we tried to chase it down and what we realised is that the wicket slows down a bit, so if you don't get a good start then the middle order comes under pressure. (On Ruturaj) He has fractured something on his elbow, so he is ruled out of the tournament. He is a very authentic batter, someone who looks to time the ball well. So yeah, he will be a big miss. (On the importance of winning this game) It is important now, every game is important. We have lost too many matches and now it is important to do the basics right - have dot balls, take our catches. A couple of games we lost by big margins, but otherwise it was about the small things - about one over going for 20 runs. Our batters are more authentic as batters, they won't slog everything. They just need to back their instincts. It is important to start well, get boundaries early on and try to get a couple of early wickets as well. Couple of changes for us - Tripathi comes in for Ruturaj, and Anshul Kambhoj in for Mukesh," Dhoni said.
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Here are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy
Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Matheesha Pathirana, Jamie Overton, Deepak Hooda, Shaik Rasheed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed
