Additionally, with a record of seven wins and losses, RCB narrowly advanced to the playoffs ahead of them due to their superior net run-rate.
CSK isn’t known for making big changes. Their success, with five IPL titles and two in the past four seasons, can be attributed to their consistent personnel and strategy. Bringing back R Ashwin, Sam Curran, and Vijay Shankar – who previously played for the team – adds some familiar “new” faces this season. Additionally, Devon Conway returns after missing the 2024 IPL due to injury.
CSK is not typically known for their reliance on wristspin or mystery spin. However, their recent acquisition of Noor Ahmad, the 20-year-old left-arm wristspinner from Afghanistan, cost them a whopping INR 10 crore this season. He now joins a formidable spin attack alongside Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja whenever the conditions call for it.
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Rahul Tripathi is set to fill the No.3 position, which has previously been held by both Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa.
Thanks to the resurgence of players such as Rahane, Uthappa, and Shivam Dube during their time at CSK, the team has established a reputation for reviving struggling IPL careers. This year, they have added five more names to their roster – Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shreyas Gopal, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Deepak Hooda – all of whom have faced setbacks in recent seasons.
The optimal XII is most probable.
1 Conway/Ravindra*, 2 Gaikwad (c), 3 Tripathi, 4 Hooda/Shankar, 5 Dube, 6 Jadeja, 7 Curran*, 8 Dhoni (wk), 9 Ashwin, 10 Ahmad/Ellis*, 11 Pathirana*, and 12 Ahmed.
The significant bids for Ashwin and Noor, along with the presence of Jadeja’s left-arm fingerspin, Gopal’s legspin, and Hooda’s part-time offspin on the CSK team, suggests a re-emergence of their famous spin-to-win approach at Chepauk. However, in the IPL 2024 season, the fast bowlers were more successful with 74 wickets taken compared to only 25 by the spinners at this venue. Interestingly, during the 2023 ODI World Cup, Chepauk provided sharp bounce and pace favoring the fast bowlers but this could potentially change in IPL 2025.
Although Curran is not currently a member of England’s squads in any format, a strong IPL season could catch the attention of selectors. CSK experimented with promoting Jadeja up the order in the 2024 IPL, but it did not yield the desired results. However, Curran has proven his ability to adapt to different batting positions while playing for Desert Vipers in UAE’s ILT20 and he will also be expected to contribute with his bowling skills in the death overs, particularly at Chepauk.
In addition to Curran, CSK boasts a plethora of allrounders such as Dube, Jadeja, Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Hooda, Ravindra, and Jamie Overton. This provides them with an abundance of bowling choices and batting strength at all times.
Important data points
Will MS Dhoni, at 43 years of age, be able to replicate his impactful performance at the death in IPL 2024, where he had a strike rate of 220.54 and scored 161 runs off 73 balls with 14 fours and 13 sixes, his highest ever in the tournament?
Having joined CSK in 2022, Dube boasts the highest strike rate against spin bowling out of 13 batters with a minimum of 30 IPL innings – nearly reaching 159.
CSK has compelling justification for considering Khaleel Ahmed as a potential substitute for Deepak Chahar. In the 2024 IPL season, Khaleel showed impressive performance by taking eight wickets in 14 innings during the powerplay at an economy rate of 8.87. Among all bowlers, only Trent Boult, Mitchell Starc, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Vaibhav Arora managed to surpass Khaleel’s number of powerplay wickets last year.
Gurjapneet Singh, a player for TNPL and previously out of commission due to injury during the second phase of Ranji Trophy, has now recovered. However, with Curran and Khaleel as CSK’s main left-arm seamers, it is unlikely that another left-armer will make it into their top eleven or even their squad. Currently, CSK has all players eligible for consideration.
