IPL 13: Dhoni pulls up team, says 'need to work on professionalism'

After stumbling to a seven-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that the side repeated the same mistake.

SRH youngster Priyam Garg displayed a stunning performance against CSK. Priyam and Abhishek Sharma had rescued SRH from a disastrous start and enabled SRH to post 164 runs in 20 overs. Priyam smashed 51 runs in just 26 balls while Abhishek made a gutsy 31 after witnessing a bad start.

However, CSK fell eight runs short of the target and Dhoni admitted that he was not able to middle the ball early in the innings.

"I was not able to middle a lot of deliveries, maybe trying to hit the ball too hard. Looking at the outfield, it was subconscious. I'm alright, the throat begins to dry in these conditions," said Dhoni during the post-match presentation via host broadcaster Star Sports.

Also, CSK fielders were sloppy in the field. Abhishek got dropped twice in the 18th over, first by Ravindra Jadeja and then by Shardul Thakur.

Dhoni said that dropping catches like these hampers one's chances in knockout games (must-win matches). The former Indian skipper asserted that there are many positives from the game and the side will make a strong comeback.

"Long time back, we may or may not have lost three in a row. We have to get a lot of things right. It's the professionalism -- dropping catches, bowling no-balls. We're making the same mistakes again," said Dhoni.

"After the 16th over, we had two bad overs. Overall we could have been slightly better. Nobody wants to drop catches, but at this level, you have to draw a line that these catches have to be taken. Catches like these can really hamper your knockout games. What if this was a knockout game? There are many positives in this game. A few areas to improve and we'll come back stronger," he added.

CSK will next lock horns with Kings XI Punjab on Sunday.

( With inputs from ANI )