Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had a forgettable IPL 2020 campaign in UAE. Under MS Dhoni’s captaincy, the Chennai-based franchise failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in the tournament history.

WATCH – MS Dhoni reacts after die-hard fan Gopikrishnan paints his house in CSK yellow

In 12 games this season, CSK have suffered 8 defeats so far and they have two remaining fixtures against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on October 29 and November 1, respectively.

Despite the poor showing, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan on Monday (October 26) said Dhoni will lead the team in the 2021 edition of IPL as well.

Notably, Dhoni has been below par with the bat in the IPL 2020, scoring 199 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 118.45.

"Yes, definitely. I am very confident that Dhoni will lead CSK in 2021. He has won three titles for us in the IPL. This is the first year we have not qualified for the playoffs. No other team has done that. One bad year does not mean we will have to change everything," Viswanathan told TOI in an exclusive chat.

“We didn't play to our potential this season. We lost games that we should have won. That pushed us back. The withdrawals of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh coupled with Covid cases in the camp meant that the balance of the side was upset," he added.

While Raina returned from the UAE, Harbhajan didn’t even attend the conditioning camp – both cited personal reasons.

Talking about COVID-19 cases, 13 members of the CSK squad – including fast bowler Deepak Chahar and opener Ruturaj Gaikwad – contracted the virus after landing in the Middle East.

The CSK management would be looking to get the team combination right ahead of the IPL 2021, which is just six months away. The current squad has quite a few ageing players and head coach Stephen Fleming recently admitted that the team has “run out of juice”.