Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday admitted that “this season we weren’t really there” after the fateful 7-wicket against Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s not always supposed to go your way. That’s why what we try is going back to the process and see if the process is wrong or maybe we weren’t able to execute. Result is always a by-product of the process. What it does is it helps you think in a positive way,” Dhoni said after the match.

“We play in front of millions of people so there is nothing to hide. The fact remains that if you’re busy with the process then the undue pressure of results doesn’t get into the dressing room. We’ve tried a few things. That’s one thing you don’t want to do; you don’t want to chop and change a lot, because what happens is after three-four-five games you’re not sure of anything,” he said.

Dhoni hinted that in the four matches left in the league phase, youngsters in the squad would get to play.

“You want to give guys a fair go then if they’re not performing then you switch and go to someone else and give them a run. Insecurity is something you don’t want to prevail in the dressing room. Fair enough, this season we weren’t really there,” he said.

“Also there were few chances to the youngsters. Maybe we didn’t see the kind of spark that they could’ve given us to say ‘okay, you know, push the experienced guys and make space for them’. But what this result has done is give those youngsters whatever is left in our league stages. They will get a chance and have no real pressure on them so they can go out and express themselves. And give us the option of looking at the other options in the batting line-up or where they’d like to bat.”

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals kept their hopes alive of making it into the knockout stages of the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the comprehensive win over CSK.

Before the match, Rajasthan were lying at the bottom of the eight-team points table. However, after they won with 2.3 overs to spare in Abu Dhabi, the Royals have climbed to the fifth spot with eight points from 10 matches.