Even the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems unable to arrest the spectacular side of Chennai Super Kings, who succumbed to their fifth consecutive defeat of the new Indian Premier League season on Friday.
Dhoni led Chennai to five IPL titles before relinquishing the captaincy last year but the former India captain is back in charge again after skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the remainder of the season with an elbow injury on Thursday.
The change in leadership did not translate into change of fortune, though, as Chennai suffered an eight-wicket shellacking by Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.
Put into bat, Chennai managed 103-9, their lowest total at home, and Kolkata romped home with nearly 10 overs to spare.
Openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway could not cash in on the powerplay overs, and the lack of fire power in Chennai's middle order was evident again in their sluggish batting.
"Our openers (are) not the ones who will start slogging or look to hit across the line," Dhoni said after the heavy loss at Chepauk, where Chennai fans started to leave the MA Chidambaram Stadium at the halfway stage.
"But what is also important is not to get desperate seeing the scoreboard. You need maybe one or two boundaries and run rate keeps on going.
"If you start looking for 60 in six overs with our line-up, it will be very difficult for us."
Chennai are now languishing at ninth in the 10-team league with their playoff hopes diminishing, but batting coach Mike Hussey said he was hopeful for a turnaround in a long tournament.
"Well, this one hurts a lot. I mean, it really does," Hussey told reporters.
"We're certainly not putting the white flag up just yet. You only have to get in to scrape into that fourth (playoff) place.
"In a big, long tournament like the IPL, it is about momentum. Certainly the momentum is not with us at the moment whatsoever But that's not to say things can't turn around and can't turn around quickly."
Phillips ruled out
New Zealand's Glenn Phillips has left his IPL team Gujarat Titans to return home due to injury and will miss the rest of the T20 tournament, the franchise said Saturday.
All-rounder Phillips sustained a groin injury in his team's match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 6, Gujarat said in a statement.
Gujarat, who won the IPL in their debut edition in 2022, will face Lucknow Super Giants in an away game on Saturday afternoon.
Phillips was not picked by Gujarat for any of the matches this season but came on as a substitute in Sunday's match when he suffered the injury while fielding as he limped off the ground.
Gujarat have not named Phillips' replacement.
Last week, Gujarat's South African import Kagiso Rabada returned home "to deal with an important personal matter" and there is no clarity on his return.
Gujarat are at the top of the 10-team table with four wins in five games.
The 18th season of the cash-rich league is nearing its half-way stage and will conclude with the final in Kolkata on May 25. REUTERS
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