🏏IPL 2025 - Match 43: CSK vs SRH, 25 April 2025 @ 7:30 PM IST🏏

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 43: CSK vs SRH at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 25 April 2025 @ 7:30 PM IST🏏

Dhoni's 400th T20 sees CSK and SRH in now-or-never territory

SRH have never won against CSK in Chennai. Will the jinx end on Friday?

Former champions' fading campaigns

IPL 2025 is officially just over a month old. Teams are just about starting their return legs. So it is still far too early to rule any team out. Even the two at the bottom. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) can still make the playoffs if they win each of their remaining six matches starting Friday.

Everything has to go right for something like that to happen and that's really not how the CSK or the SRH campaign has gone this season. With only two wins so far, CSK have equalled their worst start to an IPL. They had two wins from eight games in 2022 as well, when they finished ninth on the table. Both sides have the same problem. Batting.

SRH's struggles are perplexing because this is the same line-up that made 250s for fun less than a year ago. They even strengthened it by adding Ishan Kishan. Somehow all that firepower keeps failing collectively, which is something CSK might be able to sympathise with. None of their auction picks have worked - barring Noor Ahmad - and even some of their established stars are tracking in the wrong direction.

[Tag and logo credit to Wildestdreams]

In the spotlight: Ayush Mhatre and Pat Cummins

CSK's batting line-up used to have a shock absorber. Someone MS Dhoni called a luxury player, who would bat only in case of collapses. Like S Badrinath or Ajinkya Rahane. Experienced hands capable of navigating tricky situations. This year, CSK's tried and tested have failed, forcing them to look outside the system for solutions. Ayush Mhatre provided the glimpse of one in the last game against Mumbai Indians and on Friday, has another chance to show off his skills.

As proof that T20 cricket really does hate bowlers, Pat Cummins, one of the finest of this generation, is the leader of a bowling attack that has been ineffective and expensive. SRH have the fewest wickets (38) and the highest run-rate (10.59) of all 10 teams. Cummins has put himself front and centre to try and find a solution to this, bowling more overs than anybody else in the team, but it hasn't quite worked. He is their second highest wicket taker, but those wickets are coming at 40 runs apiece.

The big question

Heinrich Klaasen is SRH's best batter with 281 runs at an average of 40.14 and strike rate of 159.65. Should he come up the order and shape the game, especially against CSK who are likely to attack with spin, or stay in the middle as the designated finisher?

Pitch and conditions: CSK's struggles against spin

Spinners have taken 27 out of the 50 wickets that have fallen at Chepauk this year. But CSK haven't been in a position to exploit that because their own batting has struggled against spin, including in their most recent home game against Kolkata Knight Riders where they gave up six wickets for 55 runs in 12 overs.

Stats and trivia: Dhoni's 400th T20 match

• SRH have never won against CSK in Chennai. Will it be their turn to breach the fortress, after Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals did the same earlier? CSK's usual win-loss ratio at home (68%) has fallen to 25% this IPL
• Dhoni will be playing his 400th T20, joining the ranks of Rohit Sharma (456), Dinesh Karthik (412) and Virat Kohli (407) as the most experienced Indians in the format.
• Shivam Dube rose to prominence as a spin-hitter. This season he has the second-lowest strike rate against spin - 114.86 - among those who have faced at least 50 deliveries. Top of the list is another CSK player, Ravindra Jadeja (87.93).
• Rahul Chahar has picked up 14 wickets at an economy rate of 6.2, which is only bettered by Sunil Narine's 5.9 among bowlers who've bowled at least 25 overs at Chepauk. He also keeps Dhoni (strike rate 56), Jadeja (SR 88) and Dube (SR 114) quiet. That's a strong case for SRH to put him in the XI.
• CSK might save Matheesha Pathirana's overs for whenever Klaasen comes in to bat. Their head to head in T20 cricket reads 26 runs in 22 balls for three dismissals
• There are five batters who have faced at least 30 balls in the powerplay and haven't hit any sixes this IPL. Four of them are in this match: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ishan Kishan and Shaik Rasheed.

Chepauk Stadium, Chennai: Pitch report for CSK vs SRH IPL 2025

The Chepauk surface has proven to be one of the toughest for batters so far in IPL 2025. Across the four matches played at this venue, runs have come at an average of just 23.2 and a scoring rate of 8.1 – the lowest among all 12 venues used in the tournament this season.

The track has been slow and gripping, offering turn and keeping the spinners firmly in the game. As expected, spin bowlers have fared significantly better than pacers, consistently controlling the game and applying pressure in the middle overs. While batters have had to work hard for their runs, teams that build partnerships and adapt to the conditions have found some success.

CSK vs SRH Weather Report

Humidity will hover consistently high, starting at a sticky 73% at 7 PM and peaking close to 80% as the match progresses. The mercury will linger around 33°C at the start, dropping only slightly to 31°C by 11 PM. Dew will be a big factor, especially for bowlers in the second innings.

The track has been slow and gripping, offering turn and keeping the spinners firmly in the game. As expected, spin bowlers have fared significantly better than pacers, consistently controlling the game and applying pressure in the middle overs. While batters have had to work hard for their runs, teams that build partnerships and adapt to the conditions have found some success.

Expect another challenging surface, where timing the ball will not be easy and spin will play a key role, especially as the game progresses. A score around 160-170 could be competitive if dew does not come into play.

Key cricket stats at MA Chidambaram Stadium (T20s since 2024 IPL)

• Total matches: 13
• Batting 1st wins: 5
• Batting 2nd wins: 8
• Average 1st innings score: 172/7
• Lowest total defended: 175
• Highest target chased: 211
• 200+ totals: 4 times in 13 matches
• Average sixes per match: 13

Bowling stats:

Pace bowlers:

• Overs %: 63%
• Wickets: 93
• Average: 27.2
• Economy rate: 8.8

Spinners:

• Overs %: 37%
• Wickets: 45
• Average: 28.8

Economy rate: 7.6

Winning trends by 1st innings score

When 1st innings score is 190 or above:

• Matches: 4
• Batting 1st wins: 3
• Batting 2nd wins: 1

When 1st innings score is below 190:

• Matches: 9
• Batting 1st wins: 2
• Batting 2nd wins: 7

Recent match at MA Chidambaram Stadium

The last IPL match here was Match 25 of IPL 2025 between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR invited CSK to bat first. Despite being one of the strongest teams at their home ground historically, CSK failed to deliver and could only post 103 for 9 after playing the full 20 overs. In reply, KKR chased down the total in just 10.1 overs with 8 wickets to spare.

Other key stats at MA Chidambaram Stadium

Chepauk Stadium has hosted a total of 89 IPL matches. Teams batting first have won 51 of those games, accounting for approximately 57.3 per cent, while teams chasing have emerged victorious in 38 matches, or 42.7 per cent of the time. The highest team total recorded at this venue is 246/5 by Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2010, while the lowest total is 70 all out by Royal Challengers Bangalore against CSK in 2019. The highest successful run chase came recently in 2024, when Lucknow Super Giants chased down 213/4 in 19.3 overs against CSK. The lowest total successfully defended at the ground is 126/8, achieved by RCB against CSK back in 2008. On average, the first innings score at Chepauk stands at 164. The highest individual score at the venue is Murali Vijay’s blistering 127 off 56 balls for CSK against RR in 2010. Suresh Raina holds the record for most runs at the ground, amassing 1,498 runs in 55 innings. Across all matches, a total of 961 sixes have been hit, with MS Dhoni leading the six-hitting charts at the venue with 77 maximums in 63 innings.

Head to Head - Last 5 Matches

CSK won by 78 runs, 29-Apr-2024

SRH won by 6 wickets (with 11 balls remaining), 06-Apr-2024

CSK won by 7 wickets (with 8 balls remaining), 22-Apr-2023

CSK won by 13 runs. 02-May-2022

SRH won by 8 wickets (with 14 balls remaining), 09-Apr-2022

Batters to watch(Recent stats)

Rachin Ravindra, CSK

10 M • 279 Runs • 31 Avg • 136.76 SR

Shivam Dube, CSK

10 M • 255 Runs • 31.88 Avg • 128.78 SR

Heinrich Klaasen, SRH

10 M • 347 Runs • 38.56 Avg • 152.86 SR

Travis Head, SRH

10 M • 276 Runs • 27.6 Avg • 155.93 SR

Bowlers to watch(Recent stats)

Noor Ahmad, CSK

8 M • 12 Wkts • 7.67 Econ • 13.5 SR

Khaleel Ahmed, CSK

8 M • 11 Wkts • 9.21 Econ • 15.81 SR

Harshal Patel, SRH

7 M • 9 Wkts • 9.39 Econ • 15.33 SR

Pat Cummins, SRH

10 M • 9 Wkts • 9.83 Econ • 22.44 SR

The mood at Chepauk is a bit sombre. The sense of anticipation, typical of IPL venues on match eve, seems to be missing. There's a general lack of fanfare 24 hours out from the first ball, and at a ground that once pulled in 10,000 fans just to watch a practice session after a two-year hiatus, the silence feels louder. Inside the press conference room, Stephen Fleming doesn't have much new to say. And at the box office, the uncertainty lingers around ticket sales according to local reports, a phenomenon unheard of on these shores.

It's a reflection of the kind of season Chennai Super Kings have had so far. Only two wins in their first eight matches has consigned them to the bottom of the points table, and while MS Dhoni has briefly spoken about getting the "combinations right" and "securing an eleven" for the "next year" already, Fleming sounded a bit more optimistic than he did afterCSK's nine-wicket drubbing in Mumbai.

"We're still hopeful of winning 6 out of 6," Fleming said on the eve of the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. "And some will giggle at that, but RCB set a blueprint for that the year before."

The RCB template, which saw the Bengaluru franchise win six of their last seven matches last year to make the playoffs, is something that SRH's head coach Daniel Vettori also referenced after a seven-wicket loss at home, coincidentally also to the Mumbai Indians. "There's been a few teams that have been able to resurrect their seasons. And you look back to RCB last year after a difficult start. So if we can take some inspiration, it's from a team like them," Vettori had said.

While the RCB-style comeback is a month-long project, what's in front are two crucial points that both teams would want to grab in order to keep their season alive. But predicting a favourite isn't as straightforward in what feels like a battle of weaknesses than strengths. CSK haven't had the best time at home, losing three of the four matches played here, and they will be up against a side that's yet to win an away game this season and that's never beaten them at home.