🏏IPL 2025 - Match 62: CSK vs RR on 20th May 2025 at Delhi 🏏

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 62: CSK vs RR on 20th May 2025 at Delhi from 7:30pm IST🏏

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 62nd match of the IPL 2025. This match will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Both these teams are already eliminated and will be playing for pride in the next few games left for them this season.

Chennai Super Kings are at the bottom of the table with three wins and nine losses in twelve matches. The five-time champions have had a disappointing season so far, but in the last few games, they have tried quite a few new players who have done well, which bodes well for the next edition. They beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets in the previous match. Sam Curran, Rachin Ravindra, Jamie Overton, and Nathan Ellis are not available for the rest of the season.

Rajasthan Royals are ninth in the table with three wins and nine losses in twelve matches. In the previous match, they suffered a one-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders. Lluan-dre Pretorius has replaced the injured Nitish Rana in the squad. Jofra Archer will be missing the rest of the campaign. This should be a closely fought game.

Preview

It's been quite a while since the IPL 2025 campaigns of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals fizzled out, the hope of playoffs qualification dashed, and all the worries that had accumulated in the run-up to that elimination have now dwindled.

Whether the two sides will look to play carefree cricket or experiment with a focus on the next season remains uncertain. But when the two teams take on each other on a neutral ground, Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, interests would be limited to who will take the wooden spoon this season at the end of the contest, with neither likely to be too keen for it.

The campaign has run two different courses for Royals and CSK. While the former would rue missing as many as four chances of victory, when almost all of those looked in sight, CSK have been a pale shadow of their glory days, enduring arguably their worst campaign in 18 seasons.

Even as the incentives as a team might be low heading to the fag end of their campaigns, there would be enough to encourage individuals from both sides to leave strong impressions, and that could well be the interesting attraction for an otherwise dead-rubber.

When: Tuesday, May 20, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

What to expect: On Sunday, a target of 200 was chased down comfortably at the venue by Gujarat Titans. On a different track though, there could be some challenges. However, like most games at the venue, a conventional but aggressive batting approach still holds value.

Head to head: Historically, CSK have had a 16-14 edge over RR. But since 2020, Royals have won 7 out of the 9 games between the two sides.

Big picture: RR's last chance to not finish last

If not for the rearranged final leg of IPL 2025, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would have been hosting Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Chennai on Tuesday. Instead, the teams will now meet in Delhi. Which meant that there was one question on everyone's minds: Have we already seen the last of MS Dhoni at Chepauk?

These two sides occupy the bottom two spots in the points table. While there is pride to play for, they will also have one eye on the future.

Despite the forgettable campaigns, there have been some positives for both CSK and RR this season. Young and explosive batters like Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel and Vaibhav Suryavanshi have given hope and a glimpse into the future of these franchises.

Tuesday will also be RR's final game of the season, and looking back, their bowlers might realise they lacked execution at times, while their batters will count the number of missed opportunities in tight finishes. It was a year of so near yet so far for RR, who will finish last if CSK beat them. The only time RR finished last was in 2020, when the IPL was an eight-team competition.

In the spotlight: Noor Ahmad and Riyan Parag

CSK have found a match-winner in left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad. His 20 wickets are the second-most so far this season. Four of those came in CSK's previous match, against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), when Noor helped turn it around with two wickets in the middle overs and death overs each. Ten bowlers have at least 15 wickets this season, and Noor's average of 17.25 is the best among them. At just 20, he surely is a long-term option for CSK.

Riyan Parag, who has led RR every time Sanju Samson was out injured this season, is just 10 runs away from tallying 400. If he gets there, it will be the second successive year he passes that landmark. He is only 23 and made his T20I debut for India last year after a solid IPL. With a home T20 World Cup coming up early next year, Parag will be hoping he can wrap this season up with a notable score and help his chances for his first global tournament.

Team news and probable XIIs

Brevis, Noor, Devon Conway and Matheesha Pathirana, CSK's four overseas players who played against KKR, are the only ones available for them now. CSK have used 22 players so far this season - the most by any team - with only two more games remaining.

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ayush Mhatre, 2 Urvil Patel, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Ravindra Jadeja, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 R Ashwin, 8 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Khaleel Ahmed, 12 Matheesha Pathirana

Samson pushed himself down to No. 3 against Punjab Kings on his return to fitness after an abdominal injury. That allowed the 14-year-old Suryavanshi to continue to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal. It remains to be seen whether teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius, also a top-order batter who was flown in as an injury replacement, will get a chance.

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Shubham Dubey, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Kwena Maphaka, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Akash Madhwal, 12 Fazalhaq Farooqi

The big question

Among the 37 bowlers to have taken at least 300 wickets in all T20s, Wanindu Hasaranga leads the averages with 17.21. But at 34.40, Hasaranga's averaged has doubled, and he has bagged only ten wickets in 37 overs.

The numbers are even worse for his CSK counterpart R Ashwin. He has just five wickets to show in eight games, having taken them at 48.40 each. The last time Ashwin had fewer wickets in an IPL season was in his debut year in 2009.

Pitch and conditions

The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi has hosted five games this season, with the average score batting first being 192. Gujarat Titans hunted down 200 with all ten wickets standing against Delhi Capitals on Sunday at that ground. With short boundaries and the possibility of dew, expect another high-scoring game on what is expected to be a hot Tuesday evening.

Did you know?

Ravindra Jadeja has averaged 58.33 with the bat (and striking at 145.83) since being promoted to No. 4

Nathan Ellis has dismissed Sanju Samson twice in 11 balls, and conceded only 12 runs against him

This season, Rajasthan Royals have lost 8 (including the Super Over loss) out of their 9 games in which they were chasing. No team in IPL history has lost more games while chasing

Fazalhaq Farooqi is yet to take a wicket in this year's IPL

Stats and trivia

CSK and RR have faced each other in 31 matches so far, with CSK leading by only 16-15.

CSK have had the worst-performing top order this season. Their top three batters have a combined average of only 23.68, while striking at 140.74. Both numbers are the lowest by any team this season.

RR, on the other hand, have been the worst bowling side this season. Their bowling average (44.84) and economy rate (10.02) are the worst among all sides.

Team Watch:

Chennai Super Kings:

Injuries/Unavailability: The English duo of Sam Curran and Jamie Overton haven't returned to India following the suspension of the IPL.

Tactics & Matchups: Sanju Samson has struggled to score at a brisk pace against the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Even on a small ground, the spinning duo could pose some challenge to the Royals' skipper.

Rajasthan Royals

Injuries/Unavailability: No new updates on the Royals' squad since their last game against Punjab Kings on Sunday

Tactics & Matchups: Ravindra Jadeja, who has struck at 145.83 since being promoted to No. 4, has struggled against spinners in recent years. Jadeja strikes at only 102.9 against spin since 2020. Despite Royals' spin department having been toothless this season, Riyan Parag's offbreaks could prove handy against the southpaw.