IPL 2025: Chennai Super Kings looked a bit rusty against RCB. What areas need improvement, and what should CSK focus on as they progress in the tournament?
Five-time IPL winners, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), have not looked like a champion team in their first two matches of IPL 2025. They won their opening game against Mumbai Indians (MI) by four wickets in the last over but suffered a 50-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their second match. It’s fair to say that CSK are battling their own demons across all departments of the game. Let’s take a closer look.
CSK’s batting over-reliance on Ravindra and Gaikwad exposes middle-order struggles
The batting looks overly dependent on Rachin Ravindra and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. In both matches, Ravindra looked in fine touch, scoring an unbeaten 65 against MI to finish off a tense chase and making 41 in the loss to RCB. Gaikwad struck a brilliant 26-ball 53 against MI before falling for a four-ball duck against RCB. The rest of the batting lineup has flattered to deceive. Ravindra’s opening partner, Rahul Tripathi, has hardly troubled the scoreboard, falling for single-digit scores in both matches.
The middle order, comprising Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran, and Shivam Dube, has been rusty, struggling to rotate the strike and score runs. This has put immense pressure on the lower order, including Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, and MS Dhoni, to salvage the innings. While CSK managed to scrape through with a tense win against MI, their batting frailties were exposed against RCB as they collapsed to 99/7 in pursuit of 197 before eventually losing by 50 runs.
CSK were playing at their home ground, where they were expected to perform well on slow pitches with dewy conditions. However, barring a few—Ravindra, Gaikwad, and to some extent, Dhoni—their batters have lacked application. CSK’s batters need to adjust better to their home conditions, where run-scoring is challenging but not impossible. RCB showed the way forward by adopting a counter-attacking approach to neutralise CSK’s bowling attack.
CSK bowlers need consistency and support
Except for a few standout performances with the ball, CSK’s bowling hasn’t had much to talk about. In the first game, new recruit Noor Ahmad took four wickets as Mumbai batters struggled to read him. New-ball bowler Khaleel Ahmed also impressed, dismissing the Mumbai openers with the extra bounce he generated through his high-arm action. He finished with three wickets in the match. Khaleel and Noor continued their strong performances against RCB, taking four wickets between them.
However, other CSK bowlers are yet to step up. Senior spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have not been penetrative enough to trouble opposition batters. Noor outshone his senior counterparts by a fair margin. Both Jadeja and Ashwin conceded over 11 runs per over against RCB while taking just one wicket between them. In contrast, Noor picked up three wickets while conceding at 9 runs per over.
In the pace department, Khaleel didn’t receive much support from his fellow pacers. Against MI, his pace-bowling partner Nathan Ellis was wayward and expensive, while Matheesha Pathirana lacked consistency against RCB. Overall, the pace attack has struggled to operate as a cohesive unit.
Going forward, CSK’s bowling unit needs to be more consistent with their line and length, minimise poor deliveries, and make opposition batters work harder for their runs—especially on the challenging pitches in Chennai, where scoring is not easy.
Fielding lapses proving costly for CSK
CSK dropped several crucial catches that ultimately cost them the match against Bengaluru. RCB captain Rajat Patidar was given a lifeline early in his innings when he was still adjusting to the pace of the wicket. He was dropped again later, and he capitalised on those missed chances by scoring a match-winning fifty that propelled RCB to an above-par total close to 200.
CSK captain Gaikwad admitted, “Bad fielding cost us. When you’re chasing 170, you have a little more time, but when you’re chasing 20 runs extra, you have to bat differently in the powerplay, and it didn’t happen today.” CSK must improve their fielding, as a single dropped catch can turn the tide of the tournament in an instant.
Dhoni’s batting position is hurting CSK’s chances
Dhoni’s keeping has been at its best this season. His quick stumpings of Suryakumar Yadav of MI and Phil Salt of RCB are still drawing awe and disbelief. However, it is his batting position that is costing the team. Coming in at No. 9 against RCB, the match was already out of hand, and all Dhoni could do was smash a few fours and sixes to reduce the margin of defeat.
If only Dhoni batted higher up the order—ahead of Curran, Ashwin, and Jadeja—he would get more balls to play, allowing him to build an innings where he could take the team across the finish line or finish off the innings with a flourish.
