“I’m surprised” – MS Dhoni’s CSK blasted by ex-England star for benching Devon Conway

Former England cricketer Nick Knight has slammed the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) decision to break up their successful opening partnership of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway in the ongoing IPL 2025 after their embarrassing loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk. As Chennai Super Kings lost their first game at Chepauk to RCB since 2008, Nick Knight believes that CSK made a huge blunder by changing their opening combination that had previously worked wonders for them, winning the IPL 2023 trophy. During CSK’s title-winning campaign in 2023, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway formed a reliable opening pair. However, in the last season, Gaikwad opened with the New Zealand sensation Rachin Ravindra, as Devon Conway was injured and ruled out of the 2024 season. Nick Knight tears into CSK’s opening strategy in IPL 2025 But for the ongoing IPL 2025 season, Chennai Super Kings decided to change their opening combination, pushing Gaikwad down to the No. 3 position, with Rahul Tripathi and Rachin Ravindra opening the innings in the first two matches, and the call backfired. While Ruturaj is doing well at the top, Rahul Tripathi badly failed as an opener for CSK. After their 50-run win over RCB, Knight questioned the need for a change in the top order. The Englishman said that Ravindra could be utilized at No. 3 without disturbing the successful Gaikwad-Conway opening pair. He believes this would offer more stability and capitalize on Conway’s proven record as an opener. Knight also pointed out that such a move might push MS Dhoni down to No. 7, which could be challenging given the legendary cricketer’s occasional reluctance to bat lower in the order. Nick Knight slams Chennai Super Kings for not opening with Devon Conway Nick Knight was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo: “In my top order, I’d have Devon Conway. I’m surprised he’s not playing. I’d play both of them [Conway and Rachin]. I just feel that Gaikwad and Conway at the top are tried and tested. Conway has a terrific record.” Apart from the opening partnership, Knight was also surprised by the way CSK handled Shivam Dube’s batting position. Dube has consistently delivered strong performances, especially against spin since IPL 2023, but the five-time champions have held him back until No. 6 for Sam Curran. Knight felt that Dube should have come in earlier to inject momentum into the chase, as CSK found themselves falling behind in the game. Why was Shivam Dube not batting higher? He noted, “Why was Dube not batting higher? I was stunned when he came out after Curran. They were so far behind the game at that point, they needed something to get them impetus, energy in their run chase and Dube was just held back.” He also called Chennai Super Kings to give Dube more responsibility to dominate the middle overs and make the most of his ability to accelerate against spin and build pressure on the opposition. He feels Chennai can regain their rhythm and capitalize on their key players’ strengths with proper strategy in the ongoing IPL 2025. Knight signed off by saying, “If that guy can’t do that in this tournament, I must be seeing things slightly different. For me, Dube could be the man to take this opportunity and boss the middle section of that innings and take his game forward and take the team forward.”