Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar tore into the Chennai Super Kings for their poor run in the Indian Premier League 2026.ย Manjrekar also blasted the sycophancy culture ‘seeped’ into the Indian cricket.ย
The former cricketer also spoke on MS Dhoni and his role in the Indian Premier League 2025, when he used to bat for only a handful of balls. Dhoni has been on the sidelines ever since the start of the IPL 2026 due to a calf injury he picked up in the lead-up to the tournament. Dhoni was initially sidelined for two weeks, as confirmed by the CSK franchise. However, he is yet to take the field despite the league being in its third week.ย
Manjrekar criticises CSK for team’s struggles
Meanwhile, Manjrekar hit out at the CSK management for the team’s poor performance this season. “This blame, Iโm going to put at the doorstep of the owners and people who make the big decisions. Because Gaikwad, before he was captain, was phenomenal at the top of the order,” Manjrekar said on Sportstarโs Insight Edge podcast
He then lashed out at the ‘sycophancy’ culture in Indian cricket, referring to people’s anticipation of waiting to see Dhoni in action this year. “And then that thing with M.S. Dhoni โ whether heโs going to be playing, whether heโs going to be captain โ they handled that very badly. And this is where you see the sycophancy of Indian culture that has seeped into cricket as well. I mean, there isnโt just a fan following of Dhoni, there is sycophancy around it,” he added.
Manjrekar calls Dhoni’s 2025 role a joke
Meanwhile, the former India batter criticised Dhoni’s role of playing short cameos last year, calling it ‘a bit of a joke’.ย โMaybe, but then you have to play Dhoni on the field. And how do you do that? Increasingly, heโs finding it tough to deliver. It was a bit of a joke when he came down the order to face three or four balls and the coverage hyped it up as โwhat an inningsโ. It lasted four balls.
โSo thatโs not feasible anymore, and it was never going to be a long-term solution. I canโt pretend to know how Ruturaj felt when M.S. was on the field but not captaining, as opposed to not being there at all,โ he said.