The next team we will discuss about in the IPL Team Review is Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai Super Kings is the most consistent and the joint most successful team in IPL history with 5 titles and 10 Final Appearances. The journey of this IPL Franchise can be divided into 2 halves, 2008-2015 and 2018-2024. While 2008-2015 can be termed as Consistent Super Kings because of 8 consecutive playoffs qualification where they qualified in 6 Finals and won 2 titles, 2018-2024 can be termed as Comeback Super Kings because the team made a comeback after finishing at 7th and 9th in 2020 and 2022 respectively to bouncing back in the immediate season and clinching the title in 2021 and 2023. The team missed out on a Playoff Spot after loosing a close-encounter vs RCB in the 2024 season. Will C in CSK stand for comeback in IPL 2025? Let's find out.
We will do a phase-wise analysis of batting and bowling of CSK 2025 squad members for the last 3 seasons of IPL and find out the strengths and weaknesses of CSK.
Squad:
Ideal Playing 11:
Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(wk), R Ashwin, Noor Ahmed, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana
Impact Player: Vijay Shankar/Deepak Hooda/Anshul Kamboj
Batting
CSK have a formidable batting lineup with a proven opening combination of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway, intent machine Rahul Tripathi, spin-hitter Shivam Dube, proven finishers like MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja along with good utility batters like Sam Curran, Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda and a formidable backup like Rachin Ravindra. Now let's analyze the phase-wise performance of the CSK batting lineup in the last 3 seasons of IPL.
Powerplay(1-6)
Scatter Plot for Powerplay Batting Performance
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway have a Powerplay strike-rate of 135.62 and 128.10 respectively from IPL 2022 to IPL 2024. While, the strike-rates of both the openers doesn't look great in the context of modern-day T20 Cricket this is a proven batting pair which played a crucial role in the 2023 title triumph for CSK. Both were among the Top-5 run-scorer of the tournament in the 2023 season. This is a very stable opening pair and considering that CSK have to play 7 out of the 14 games at the sluggish Chepauk Track, the Rutu-Way opening pair provides the much needed stability to the CSK Batting Lineup. This stable pair will be followed by Intent Machine Rahul Tripathi at No.3 who can score some impactful runs in the powerplay if 1 of the openers is dismissed early.
Middle Overs(7-15)
The middle overs phase is a very crucial phase in T20 Cricket especially in Chepauk which is a turning track and spinners play a crucial role in middle-overs. To post a good total in Chepauk, the batting team needs to tackle spin and score at a healthy run-rate in this phase. The potential Top-4 of CSK i.e. Ruturaj, Conway, Tripathi and Dube strike at an access of 140 in this phase. While, this phase is the primary and main batting phase of Tripathi and Dube, Ruturaj and Conway bat in this phase as well-set batters and accelerate after Powerplay. The middle overs strike-rate of Conway is 152.74 which is significantly higher than his powerplay strike-rate of 128.10. Deepak Hooda is also a handy batter in this phase while Sam Curran, Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja has sub-par strike rate in this phase. Jadeja is the designated finisher and must be sent to bat after 14 overs only. Sam Curran despite having the lowest strike-rate in this phase is my designated No. 5 and Hooda and Shankar should be used as Impact Player options depending on match situations. There are 2 reasons for preferring Sam above Hooda and Shankar: a) He is improving his batting day-by-day and has played some good knocks in the last 2 seasons of IPL which shows his ability to mitigate challenging situations, his performance in ILT20 2025 is the testament of his improved batting performance. b) Sam Curran being fixed in the playing 11 gives a very good 6th bowling option to support the CSK bowling attack which might not always be the case if one of Hooda, Shankar or Rachin has a fixed spot in the CSK batting line-up.
Death Overs(16-20)
The death-overs phase is the phase where CSK turn the game in their favours. One good thing about all the CSK batters is that once they get set they keep on increasing their strike-rate throughout the game and this is what looks their average-looking batting line-up a good batting line-up. The responsibility of power-hitting in the death overs lies on MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja. In some of the games, Vijay Shankar will be given a chance where he can play some valuable cameos. The 1 thing CSK should take care of is entry points of the batters and usage of Impact Players. If a wicket falls anytime after 14 overs then MS Dhoni should immediately come out to bat as he can easily score at a strike-rate of more than 200 in more than 50% of the games which will be very impactful for CSK. CSK also need to take manage entry points of Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda as they are good utility players performing specific roles or use Anshul Kamboj as the impact player.
Overall, CSK have a very formidable batting line-up which can make them win matches consistently. Statistically, it doesn't look as attacking as the batting line-up of RCB, SRH, MI or KKR but if used properly, this line-up can do wonders.
Bowling
CSK have plenty of variety in their bowling line-up and have covered all the bases in the bowling unit. They have the best spin trio in the league in the form of Jadeja, Ashwin and Noor, they have a great death bowler in Matheesha Pathirana with Nathan Ellis and Jamie Overton being his backups along with quality left-arm pacers in the form of Sam Curran and Khaleel Ahmed. They also have very talented Anshul Kamboj in the squad who is one of my prime impact player options. Let's see how this bowling unit looks phase-wise and how these bowlers have performed statistically in the last 3 years.
Powerplay(1-6)
CSK have historically been great in terms of using Indian Pacers in Powerplay be it Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande or Mohit Sharma. This time around they have Khaleel Ahmed who is an excellent new-ball bowler. From IPL-2022 to IPL-2024, Khaleel has taken 14 wickets in the Powerplay which is the 8th highest in this phase at an economy of 7.69 which is the 4th best economy among the top 10 wicket-taker pacers in the 2022-2024 IPL cycle. Khaleel will be supported by Sam Curran and R Ashwin in the powerplay, though Sam Curran's wicket-taking skills have reduced significantly post 2022 T20 WC, I expect him to be a good new ball partner to Khaleel Ahmed under lights in Chepauk. As far as Ashwin is concerned, he is the joint 2nd highest wicket-taker in Powerplay in the last 3 seasons of IPL along with Axar Patel and Glenn Maxwell just behind Mahesh Theekshana. I also expect Anshul Kamboj to get some games and show his new-ball bowling skills. Overall, CSK have done a tremendous job in assembling bowlers who can bowl in Powerplay.
Middle Overs(7-15)
This is the most crucial phase especially when you have to play 7 games at a venue like Chepauk. CSK have nailed it in this regard with 3 quality spinners like Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Noor Ahmed. All the 3 CSK spinners are feature in the list of Top-15 highest wicket-takers in the last 3 seasons of IPL. This spin trio will make the life of opponent batters hell in the middle-overs and will play a crucial role in CSK's success. With such a quality spin attack, I feel that this season will see one of the most spin-friendly Chepauk track in IPL history alongside 2015 and 2019 where batters looked clueless against spin at Chepauk. This spin trio will be supported by Matheesha Pathirana and Sam Curran who will bowl an over or 2 in the phase depending on opponents and match-situation. Overall, the spin trio assembled by CSK seals the deal in terms of middle overs bowling.
Death Overs(16-20)
The prime death bowler for CSK in the death overs is Matheesha Pathirana who is 3rd highest wicket-taker from IPL 2022 to IPL 2024 in this phase with 23 wickets at an economy of 8.36 which is absolutely mind-boggling. Among the pacers in the above scatter-plot, Pathirana has the 2nd highest economy in the death overs in the last 3 seasons of IPL, just behind Jasprit Bumrah which shows the impact he can create in the death. He will be complemented in the death by Khaleel Ahmed and Sam Curran who are not reliable death bowlers. Khaleel and Sam have taken 19 and 14 wickets respectively at an economy of more than 11 in the last 3 seasons of IPL which shows their inconsistency as death bowlers. One tactical punt that CSK can take is to bowl one over of Noor in the death and among the remaining 4 overs, Pathirana should bowl 2 overs and the rest 2 overs should be shared between Sam Curran and Khaleel Ahmed. This gives them a balanced approach in planning bowling tactics.
Overall, CSK have great depth and variety in their bowling line-up. This bowling unit will make things difficult for the opposition batters till 15 overs, however if the opposition manages to score at a healthy run-rate without loosing too many wickets till 15 overs, they can easily take the CSK death bowling to the cleaners as they lack a reliable death-bowling partner for Matheesha Pathirana.
Strengths:
1. Proven Opening Pair: CSK have a proven opening pair at the top of the order in the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. Though this pair does not look attacking and might look outdated with the changing dynamics of T20 Cricket, they understand each other's gameplay well and complement each other which is very important in a team sport.
2. Finishers: CSK have the greatest finisher in the history of IPL, MS Dhoni as their designated finisher at No.7, Shivam Dube strikes at more than 190 in the death which shows how dangerous he becomes after getting set. Both the players will be complemented by the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and Vijay Shankar who can hit in the death.
3. Spin Trio: CSK have the best spin trio that could have been assembled consisting of Noor Ahmed, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin. This trio along with the formidable batting unit and death bowler like Pathirana can make Chepauk a fortress again for CSK and win 6 or 7 games in Chepauk itself thereby cementing the playoffs qualification.
Concerns:
1. Lack of Power Hitters: After a dependable Top-4, CSK lacks the much needed firepower at No.5, Sam Curran is a reliable batter but not someone who can play a blinder and give a 40-ball 75 or a 50-ball 90 here and there. CSK missed out on Stoinis, Livingstone and Maxwell in the mega auction who can play such kind of blinders. Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda are not promising in this aspect as well.
2. Death bowling partner for Pathirana: Besides Pathirana CSK lack a genuine death bowler to partner Pathirana. Sam Curran and Khaleel Ahmed are highly inconsistent in the death, whereas spinners can be taken down easily in the death. But CSK has excellent bowling for powerplay and middle overs which is difficult to score against.
Home Ground: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai(Chepauk)
Chepauk is considered to be a slow spin friendly wicket and it offers movement for medium pacers upfront in the powerplay as well. CSK have assembeld the best possible bowling unit for Chepauk with 3 quality spinners in Noor, Ashwin and Jadeja, 2 left arm swing bowlers in Khaleel and Sam and a death bowler like Matheesha Pathirana.
As far as batting is concerned, Rachin Ravindra is a very tempting option as an opener because of his ability to utilize powerplay and he did decent in the 2024 season. Also, he is currently going through the form of his life with excellent performance in ODI and Test Cricket while Conway is currently a bit off-colour. Still, I feel that Conway should and would be preferred by the CSK think-tank because of Ruturaj and Conway being a proven opening pair and 2023 title triumph is a testimony for that.
Combination for away games:
The given playing 11 for CSK can be played across most of the venues even including batting paradise and pace-friendly venues like Motera, Wankhede, Chinnaswamy and Eden Gardens. However, CSK might struggle if they loose 3 wickets within the powerplay as the likes of Sam Curran, Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda are not the best middle order batters on the mentioned venues. CSK faced similar issue previous year vs DC at Vizag and vs GT at Motera which eventually costed them a playoffs spot. Batting woes aside, CSK needs to find a way to play 1 hit the deck bowler on these tracks as these pitches offer good bounce as well. The only HTD that CSK can play without disturbing the team combination is Anshul Kamboj. Playing either Jamie Overton or Nathan Ellis comes at a cost of dropping either Conway or Sam which weakens the batting line-up. However, 1 thing that remains to be seen is whether CSK drops R Ashwin in some of the away games or not. MS Dhoni dropped Harbhajan Singh in few away games in 2018 and 2019 because the team had to play an extra pacer and Jaddu and Tahir were doing great. The current spin combination of Jaddu-Ashwin-Noor is identical to the combination of Jaddu-Bhajji-Tahir. However, the captain back then was MS Dhoni who was unapologetic with his decisions and didn't hesitate to drop players of high stature. It remains to be seen if the Ruturaj-Fleming Management takes such calls or not for the away games. Besides these venues, CSK is well-equipped for Mullanpur, Delhi and Lucknow as these pitches offer something for spinners and medium pacers as well.
Conclusion: CSK have assembled a balanced squad which perfectly suits the conditions of Chepauk where they have to play 7 games. But, this team can be defeated away from Chepauk. They are sure-shot contenders for Playoffs in my opinion.
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