CSK Vs RR: Dhoni comes down hard on CSK youngsters; says "no spark" to push them in

Abudhabi: The three-time champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) , suffered their seventh loss while Rajasthan Royals recorded a comfortable seven-wicket win over Chennai in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the skipper of Chennai Super Kings, was not pleased with the loss and said on Monday that the young people in his squad did not display the spark needed to break into playing Eleven at the expense of the veterans.

Before inside- edging a Deepak Chahar delivery on to his stumps, Ben Stokes (19) began on a bright note and over later, Josh Hazlewood sent Robin Uthappa back as the right-hander went for an extravagant scoop over wicketkeeper Dhoni, who was playing his 200th IPL game.

Sanju Samson continued to disappoint with the bat after glowing early in the tournament, departing for a duck. Although Buttler was the aggressor, Smith played second fiddle in their partnership.

MS Dhoni came out hard on the youngsters after the match on Monday.

"You don't want to chop and change. Insecurity is something you don't want to prevail in the dressing room. Fair enough, this season we weren't really there", after suffering the seven-wicket defeat, Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. "This season, we were not really there. And, also, there were a few changes to the youngsters and maybe we didn't see the kind of spark that they could have given us to say, okay, push [out] the experienced guy and maybe make some space for them (youngsters)."

In their search for an Indian Premier League 2020 playoff spot, Chennai Super Kings suffered a major mishap. On Monday at the Sharjah Stadium, CSK suffered a convincing loss against Rajasthan Royals to dent their hopes of getting into the top-four. CSK could only manage a modest output of 125 runs in their 20 overs after winning the toss and deciding to bat first.

MS Dhoni had been a brilliant player and has given his most to the team, but the day he played his historic 200th IPL game, perhaps his worst performance was dished out by the Chennai striker.

With a 30-ball unbeaten 35, Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for CSK and skipper Dhoni made a run-a-ball 28 while adding fifty-one runs for the fifth wicket.

Coach Stephen Fleming acknowledged that the team was "pretty down" and struggled to remain "upbeat and optimistic" after the series of bad results in the press interview after the match.

The skipper said that there will be changes with an eye on 2021 in the next games, but this season seems to be a huge letdown for the whistle-podu army, not to forget, their beloved Thala had his part in the suffering.