Former Indian opening batter Navjot Singh Sidhu took a brutal jibe at Mahendra Singh Dhoni over getting out cheaply on return to captaincy in the IPL 2025 game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Sidhu, who was on Hindi commentary, opined how much the hype surrounded Dhoni's batting and used the phrase 'Khoda pahaad, nikli chuhiya'.
With Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out due to elbow fracture, Dhoni stepped in to lead the Super Kings and there was hype around it, given his captaincy records. The skipper was at the forefront of a shambolic batting performance as he made only 1 and the five-time champions suffered crushing eight-wicket defeat at the Chepauk.
Watch the video below as Sidhu can be heard saying on air:
"Arey Dhoni aa rahe hain ji jaise sher aaya, sher aaya, bada hype thi, badi excitement thi, par khoda pahaad nikli chuhiya."
(People were saying Dhoni is coming, the lion is coming. There was so much hype and excitement. But there was nothing.)
"Need to look deep down inside" - MS Dhoni
With the Super Kings managing only 103 on the board and Kolkata winning in a canter, Dhoni admitted that the opposition spinners exploited the conditions brilliantly and lamented the lack of partnerships for CSK.
"Quite a few nights haven't gone our way. Need to look deep down inside. Challenge was there, but we needed to tackle. Didn't have enough runs on the board today. Ball stopped that has been the case, even in the second innings it stopped. Today it stopped in the first innings as well. With quality spinners, it is difficult. We didn't get partnerships as well."
The Super Kings will next face the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 14, Monday in an away fixture.
