On Monday, March 31, Rajasthan Royals (RR) spinner Kumar Kartikeya shared a couple of photos on social media with former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni. The two teams had recently faced off in the 11th match of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday, March 30, at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
Batting first, RR put up 182/9 in 20 overs, with Nitish Rana stealing the show with a blistering 81 off 36 balls, including 10 fours and five sixes. Captain Riyan Parag also contributed 37 off 28 balls. In reply, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad led the chase with 63 off 44 balls, hitting seven fours and a six.
MS Dhoni chipped in with 16 off 11, while Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 32 off 22 balls kept CSK in the hunt. However, they fell short, managing 176/6 and losing by six runs. A day after the match, RR’s Kumar Kartikeya shared a selfie with MS Dhoni on Instagram, creatively transforming it into trending Ghibli-style art. He captioned the post:
“One of my favourite person.”
Stephen Fleming shares key fitness update on MS Dhoni after RR vs CSK IPL 2025 match
After CSK’s match against RR on March 30, head coach Stephen Fleming stated in the post-game conference that sending MS Dhoni up the batting order mid-innings isn’t practical due to his age and past knee injuries. The 43-year-old batted at No. 7 but couldn’t take his team over the line, scoring 16 off 11 balls as CSK fell six runs short in their chase of 183. Explaining this decision, Fleming said during the conference:
“Yeah, it’s a time thing. MS judges it. His body is, his knees aren’t what they used to be. And he’s moving okay, but there’s still an attrition aspect to it. He can’t bat 10 overs running full stick.”
”So he will gauge on the day what he can give us. If the game’s in the balance like today, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. So he’s balancing that,” (via Hindustan Times).
“I said it last year [as well], he’s too valuable to us – leadership and wicket-keeping – to throw him in nine, ten overs. He has actually never done that. So, look, from around 13-14 overs, he’s looking to go depending on who’s in,” Fleming added.
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