CSK are in 10th place in the IPL 2025 standings with four points.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have endured a forgettable run in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season so far. The MS Dhoni-led side lie in tenth place in the IPL 2025 standings with just four points from eight matches. Their latest setback was a nine-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mumbai on Sunday.
Chennai Super Kings were initially led by their regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, an elbow injury during the match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) meant that Gaikwad was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.
Teenage sensation Ayush Mhatre was later named as Ruturaj Gaikwad’s replacement in the squad. Several problems have haunted Chennai Super Kings since the start of IPL 2025. We take a look at four of those problems here:
Hot and cold Rachin Ravindra and lack of aggression
One of the major problems for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025 has been the lack of aggressive batters in their lineup. New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra has run hot and cold this season whereas Shaikh Rasheed is still new to the franchise league setup.
The likes of Rahul Tripathi and Deepak Hooda have been far from their best. The Yellow Brigade’s top-order batters have also often failed to go big in the powerplay, furthering hindering their chances this season.
Role of old trio MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin
Chennai Super Kings have been over-reliant on seniors in their team to produce the results. Because of their fragile batting lineup, it has often been the case that MS Dhoni walks out to bat later on and provide the finishing touches with the bat. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin have also had mixed outings in IPL 2025.
While Dhoni’s role is clear, it remains questionable how the team structure is if he can only bat in certain types of situations and phases.
Chennai Super Kings batting coach Michael Hussey, however, defended the senior players. “I would argue that they’re not beyond their prime. We’ve had players in the twilight of their careers come and play for CSK in the past—Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane come to mind—and they’ve performed really well,” the Australian had said last week.
Chennai Super Kings players have been sloppy with their fielding efforts too in IPL 2025. As of April 8, Chennai Super Kings had dropped 12 catches in IPL 2025, with five of those alone coming against Punjab Kings on that day.
“We had them five for, what, 100? And then, we had mishaps on the field, which I think let them off the hook,” Stephen Fleming told after the game vs PBKS. “We saw a fine innings from a young player (Priyansh Arya’s 42-ball 103), who had the night of his life, but we had opportunities throughout. Fielding has been an issue throughout the season — the amount of catches dropped. So, we’re working hard on that.”
According to Cricbuzz, Chennai Super Kings have the second-worst catching efficiency in IPL 2025 (68.5 %) and have misfielded on 17 occasions.
Barring Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad, none of Chennai Super Kings’ spinners have stepped up to the occasion. Noor Ahmad, in fact, is Chennai Super Kings’ top wicket-taker in IPL 2025 with 12 scalps. However, Ravichandran Ashwin (7 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja (8 wickets) have not proved to be the kind of threat that they usually possess. Over-reliance on Noor Ahmad also means a lack of reliable wicket-taking spin options, which neither Ashwin nor Jadeja seem to be at the moment, should things go south.
