With their recent loss—this time a six-wicket defeat to the Rajasthan Royals—the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are now nearly certain to finish IPL 2025 at the points table's bottom, a season of precipitous decline for the five-time champions.
On a sweltering Tuesday in Delhi, a passionate crowd turned up in large numbers—comprising kids, working professionals, and elderly fans—to support the iconic MS Dhoni-led side. Many wore the signature yellow jerseys and blew whistles enthusiastically, undeterred by the soaring temperatures and midweek scheduling.
But once again, CSK's on-field decisions were questioned. Their batting lineup had Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja promoted over more attacking batsmen such as Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube. At the other end, their bowling lineup did not have any bite, and they failed to trouble the RR batsmen.
Head coach Stephen Fleming, earlier in the week, had been keen to stress the need to finish the season on a high. But with their tenth defeat now going into the records, the display only served to expose CSK's inability to keep up with the changing need for advanced T20 cricket. Fleming himself conceded that their bottom-place finish "probably" indicates the truth about their performance.
"Obviously, we don't like being down here, but it's not a motivation. We just wanted a good performance. We're trying to string some performances together. The target was two good performances. Now it'll be just one good one to finish," Fleming said during the post-match presser.
He said, "It's perhaps right that we are at the bottom. We've played that sort of cricket, so you can't keep hiding away from it. But what we do want to do is just put a much better performance on the paddock that is reflective of the ability of the team."
Though slipping to 78/5, CSK were able to set a total of 187/8—credit to a dogged middle-order performance. But against a fighting Rajasthan team whose young players set their sights high, that total never really looked enough.
Fleming mentioned the side had practiced in Chennai ahead of the game but conceded motivation has taken a hit, particularly considering where they stand in the league table.
Some of the boys got trained in Chennai also. It was just that it involved a little bit of travelling. The rest is a good thing, but it's more to do with our position on the table in terms of if you're up around the top four or five, then it's much easier to come back and get motivated, get into it.".
"We're trying to just deliver good performances in the park. Motivation for our two games has been very high. The training has been good. Intensity was okay. We're just not getting performances again in the middle."
Despite this, there were moments of inentity. There were some fireworks with the bat by Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis who scored 43 and 42 respectively. CSK scored 68 in the powerplay, an area that has plagued them all season, but losing three of their wickets—Mhatre included—during that period derailed any prospect of hitting 200.
Our order is not correct at this point, and that is something we are constantly trying to rejig. We have some good plans for next year, so all areas are addressed. But we have not been able to do that here this year due to the absence of runs up the top.".
"Many of the batting spots are subject to how well a start we get, and then guys can slot into place. So we haven't had that, and we've been patching innings up, really, instead of building good innings," Fleming said.
In bowling, Matheesha Pathirana—earlier a prized possession—has been underwhelming this season. Although he's grabbed 12 wickets in 11 matches, his steep economy rate of 10.17 indicates how costly he's been. The Sri Lankan was among the cricketers CSK had counted on for the 2025 season.
"It hasn't been at what we want. We have big expectations of him, that's the reason why we kept him. But he is coming back into a bit of form. He was genuinely out of form when we had him in South Africa. He's improved, but it's not quite to where we or he'd like. So there's some space for him to get some form and build some confidence, I suppose.".
"But I believe that he is just at that phase where batsmen are playing him better. They've got more experience against him. So now he simply needs to dig down on what he needs to do in order to be as good as what he has been in the first half of his career. It's a specialized skill set, but it's been slightly off," added Fleming.
One of the few highlights in an otherwise dismal bowling show was Anshul Kamboj. The pacer had a good day in Delhi, coming back with figures of 1-21 and sending the perilous Yashasvi Jaiswal back. Recently selected for India 'A' work in England, Kamboj's flighted seam movement and guileful pace were appreciated by his coach.
"Kamboj is all right, you see his speeds are 138-139 – it's cheating, because his balls come down on the gloves of the keeper harder. His greatest strength is that he only gets the ball to wobble on a flat wicket. I feel he will do extremely well on that tour.".
"If he ends up getting conditions that seam around and has a bit of swing, he will be an absolute handful. So, he's really got some good potential with both white and red (balls) and we are pleased with his progress and the opportunity he's grasped this year," Fleming summed up, finishing another hard-fought match for CSK what has proven to be a season of forgetfulness.
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