Punjab Kings have problems of their own, but their Indian core – led by Shreyas Iyer – has been firing all season
CSK on the Brink: Poor starts have predicted the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) doom thrice in the past five years. IPL 2025 appears to be going in the same direction.
In 2020, CSK finished in ninth place with just six wins after losing three of their first four games; in 2022, they started the season with four straight losses and finished in ninth place once more with just four wins.
Coach Stephen Fleming claims that everything that could go wrong for them this season has, beginning with the seeming absence of home advantage. Two significant Indian additions, Rahul Tripathi and Deepak Hooda, have already been removed from the starting lineup due to their lack of performance.
Their failure to back emerging Indian talent – like Shaik Rasheed and C Andre Siddarth – has left CSK’s batting severely dependent on their outside imports and Ruturaj Gaikwad. To make matters worse, Gaikwad isn’t even batting in his preferred position at the top of the order, where he won the Orange Cap during CSK’s title-winning campaign in 2021.
Even though they are not as bad as CSK, Punjab Kings (PBKS) have struggled, especially at home. PBKS has only won once in six games played at Mullanpur over the past two seasons, and the stadium hasn’t been a particularly high-scoring one. Unlike CSK, they split their home games across two venues, making the task of adapting even more demanding.
After a difficult home defeat to the Rajasthan Royals (RR), PBKS began the season with two decisive victories. In contrast to CSK, Shreyas Iyer’s Indian core is performing admirably. Under new coach Ricky Ponting, there’s a distinct belief in youth, with players like Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya and Nehal Wadhera getting constant backing. It’s a dramatic contrast to CSK’s cautious attitude.
Slower circumstances are ideal for CSK, and Mullanpur’s surface might work in their favour. Here, RR demonstrated the potency of spin by making excellent use of all three of their spinners: Wanindu Hasaranga, Kumar Kartikeya, and Maheesh Theekshana. Even Sandeep Sharma’s combination of yorkers and slower balls was hard to throw away.
New loyalties
After Shikhar Dhawan was declared out due to injury last year, Sam Curran commanded PBKS and is currently back at CSK. The most expensive foreign acquisition was Curran, who was acquired by CSK for INR 2.4 crore at the mega auction then by PBKS for INR 18.5 crore before to the 2023 sale.
Between 2021 and 2024, Nathan Ellis, a specialised death bowler, played 16 games for PBKS before joining CSK.
Team news and likely XIIs
In his match against the Delhi Capitals (DC) three days ago, left-arm fast Mukesh Choudhary appeared slow and undercooked. Anshul Kamboj, a fast bowling all-rounder, might be able to make his CSK debut as a result.
Likely XII: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5. Shivam Dube 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Matheesha Pathirana, 12 Khaleel Ahmed
Although Suryansh Shedge has the potential to be a finisher, he hasn’t done much at PBKS thus far—he hasn’t bowled an over and has only batted once. Maybe they should look at Harpreet Brar, who provides batting depth in addition to his left-arm spin.
Likely XII: 1 Priyansh Arya, 2 Prabhsimran Singh (week), 3 Captain Shreyas Iyer, 4 Nehal Wadhera, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, and Marcus Stoinis
The big question
Gaikwad is batting at number three right now; should he go back to open, where he has had the most success? He has batted three times this season in the second over and once in the first over.
In the spotlight: Yuzvendra Chahal and Shivam Dube
In two of the three games this season, Yuzvendra Chahal has taken just one wicket despite failing to bowl his entire allotment. In a match where RR used three spinners with winning returns, Chahal’s lack of support off the surface would be concerning. He will have to overcome the chance of bowling to a string of left-handers against CSK, which could make things more difficult for him.
This season, CSK has been the team with the slowest powerplay scoring pace. In light of this, their situation is quite critical due of Shivam Dube’s lack of runs. Dube has failed to establish his dominance against spin, a role he flourished in during their 2023 championship season, and has only managed a top score of 19 in four innings.
Pitch and conditions
In the last game at the site, RR scored more than 200 runs. In terms of ground size, Mullanpur is one of the larger venues. Additionally, the area has seen temperatures as high as 37 degrees Celsius. Assistant coach Sunil Joshi of PBKS anticipates a slower, although not necessarily lower, surface.
Stats and trivia
- Against PBKS, CSK has dropped five of their previous six games.
- In the IPL 2025, CSK has the lowest overall run rate (8.1) and powerplay run rate (7.5).
- Among all teams this season, PBKS’s spinners have taken the fewest wickets—three.
- Devon Conway has been outscored three times in four innings by Arshdeep Singh, who has had an advantageous matchup.
