🏏IPL 2025 - Match 25: CSK vs KKR, 11 April 2025 @ 7:30 PM IST🏏

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 25: CSK vs KKR at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 11 April 2025 @ 7:30 PM IST🏏

CSK turn to Dhoni to avoid a hat-trick of defeats at fortress Chepauk

Just like CSK, KKR are also in the bottom half of the points table with Narine and Russell yet to fire

After losing Gaikwad, CSK could lose control of Chepauk

Murphy's law has taken a special liking to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025. After losing four games in a row, they have now lost their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for the rest of the tournament to injury. CSK have sent out an SOS to MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain.

The last time Dhoni batted at Chepauk, something strange happened: the crowd began to leave. Chepauk is usually a pulsing bowl of noise, but there was pin-drop silence when CSK's chase petered out against Delhi Capitals (DC) with Dhoni at the crease last weekend. CSK are now on the verge of entering unfamiliar territory: if they go down to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday, it will be the first time that they will have

While the reunion of Rachin Ravindra with Devon Conway at the top has remedied some of CSK's powerplay troubles, the dearth of firepower in the middle order continues to hurt them. Their middle-order batters (Nos. 4-7) have the lowest strike rate (126.04) this season. While KKR's middle order has a higher strike rate of 147.18, it's not on par with the top teams in the competition either.

Like CSK, KKR are also currently in the bottom half of the points table. The two teams have also made public their discontent with the pitches being rolled out at home. What will Chepauk throw up on Friday?

KKR's Caribbean stalwarts Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are yet to fire, but they will be pleased with Varun Chakravarthy, who continues to be unhittable. The mystery spinner has fond memories of Chepauk, having won both the IPL and TNPL here last year.

[Tag and Logo credit to Wildestdreams]

New loyalties

Ajinkya Rahane, who enjoyed a T20 career revival at CSK, will lead KKR against his former franchise. Dwayne Bravo, who was a more familiar face at CSK as a player and bowling coach, will plot against CSK, along with Rahane, in his new role as KKR's mentor.

The big question

Russell hasn't batted above No. 7 in four innings so far in IPL 2025. Against Mumbai Indians (MI), he came in at No. 8. Perhaps KKR could push him up the order unless they don't want to expose him to R Ashwin. The offspinner has dismissed Russell twice in 17 balls while giving away just 16 runs in T20s. Against Ravindra Jadeja, Russell has fared much better, taking him for 69 runs off 38 balls while being dismissed twice. Russell has faced just seven balls from Noor Ahmad for 12 runs while being dismissed once.

In the spotlight: Shivam Dube and Venkatesh Iyer

On Wednesday, Punjab Kings (PBKS) denied Shivam Dube the spin of Yuzvendra Chahal or Glenn Maxwell. Instead, they served him the extra pace and bounce of Lockie Ferguson with a packed leg-side field. Dube scored 17 off 12 balls from Ferguson before being bowled. He could face a similar test against Russell on Saturday.

After starting the season with a pair of low scores, Venkatesh Iyer has found his groove with scores of 60 and 45 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). If he gets cracking at Chepauk, he might keep Jadeja away from the attack. The last time Venkatesh played at this venue, he sealed KKR's third IPL title with an unbeaten 52 off 26 balls.

Pitch and conditions

The Chepauk surface continues to be a mystery, with CSK coach Stephen Fleming saying that they haven't been able to come to grips with it in recent years. The weather is expected to be clear.

CSK vs KKR Pitch report

The pitch is expected to be the usual Chepauk surface with the batters finding difficulty in getting proper shots away. They will need to adjust to the surface before they can play their shots. The strip will offer plenty for the spinners and with two sides having some of the best tweakers, expect the batters to struggle against them. The team winning the toss might opt to bat first with chasing expected to be difficult as observed by CSK’s failure to case down scores in their last two matches.

CSK vs KKR weather

The weather in the morning is expected to be pretty warm, rising to 36 degrees. It is expected to come down to 30 at the time of the match with clear, breezy weather while the temperature will drop to 26 at night, according to Accuweather.

Stats and trivia

• Watch out for Dhoni vs KKR's spinners. Dhoni has faced 16 balls from Varun in the IPL for only 11 runs while being dismissed three times. His struggles against Narine are even starker: 39 runs off 74 balls at a strike rate of just 52.70, and one dismissal.
• CSK have hit 31 sixes in five innings, the least among nine teams who have played at least four games this season. In comparison, KKR have hit 42 sixes in five innings.
• Narine has dominated Ashwin with the bat, hitting him for 94 runs off 39 balls at a strike rate of over 240 while being dismissed once in the IPL.
• Vaibhav Arora will relish bowling to Conway and Ravindra in the powerplay. Since IPL 2024, against left-hand batters in the powerplay, Arora has picked up eight wickets in 11 innings at a strike rate of 7.00 and an economy rate of just over six.

Three years ago, Chennai Super Kings found themselves in a similar mess. As defending champions, they lost their first four games before breaking the duck in their fifth. Then too, a new CSK captain was under fire, much like Ruturaj Gaikwad had been in recent days. To steady the ship, MS Dhoni returned to the hot seat.

Fast forward to 2025, and Dhoni, now 43, is back at the helm once again. But unlike 2022, this return is forced, with Gaikwad ruled out of the season due to a fractured elbow.

Dhoni's comeback in 2022 didn't quite spark a turnaround. CSK finished ninth, ahead of arch-rivals Mumbai Indians only on net run rate. This time, they'll hope history doesn't repeat itself. The task is tougher: CSK have lost four of their first five, and now they're without their most important batter in a campaign where the top order has already struggled.

Even though they finally crossed 200 for the first time this season in their most recent defeat, questions linger, especially around their ability to chase. Beyond the bat, CSK have also been poor in the field, dropping the most catches this season. Some of those misses have directly cost them games.

Their spin attack, too, has been underwhelming, though that could change with Dhoni back calling the shots. For now, they return to their home comforts, but is it really that comfortable anymore? They've been outplayed in Chennai by both RCB and DC, and with a slowish surface expected again, it could favour their next opponent - Kolkata Knight Riders.

If there's turn, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine will be a handful. Harshit Rana, with his variations, could also come into play. The one thing CSK can take heart from is that KKR haven't exactly set IPL 2025 alight either. The defending champions have lost three of their five games and are still searching for that spark to lift their campaign. That said, with back-to-back 200+ scores, their batting looks in far better shape than CSK's.

When: April 11, 2025 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

What to expect: Clear skies and another surface that is expected to get difficult for batting as the game goes on. The chasing side in the last two games, CSK on both occasions, found the going tough when compared with the teams that batted first.

Team news

Chennai Super Kings

Injuries/Unavailability: With Gaikwad out of the tournament, it will be interesting to see who CSK pick to replace him in the XI. While they do have options in the squad, Rahul Tripathi might be the current favourite to replace his statemate. Young wicketkeeper Vansh Bedi is another option they might look at to shore up the middle order in place of the third pacer.

Tactics & Match-ups:

While CSK have not used Matheesha Pathirana with the new ball, there is a case for that to happen against Sunil Narine. The West Indian allrounder loves facing spin and the hosts will look to remove him early before he faces their spin trio. R Ashwin has had his struggles this season but enjoys a very good matchup against the in-form KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane.

Probable XII: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c&wk), R Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Choudhary/Anshul Kamboj

Kolkata Knight Riders

Apart from that unbeaten 97 against Rajasthan Royals, Quinton de Kock has looked poor in the tournament so far. Rahmanullah Gurbaz did have a long session in the nets on the eve of the game and with familiarity against CSK's biggest threat Noor Ahmad, the Afghanistan wicketkeeper might get his chance. Don't rule out the possibility of Moeen Ali being their third spinner ahead of Spencer Johnson.

Tactics & Match-ups:

Even at the age of 43, Dhoni looks like CSK's most reliable power-hitter down the order. KKR will be tempted to hold back an over each from their spin twins to bowl to Dhoni at the death. The veteran has a poor strike-rate of 52.7 against Narine and has been dismissed thrice by Chakaravarthy in four innings. Jadeja also has a poor record against Narine with a strike rate less than 100, thus strengthening KKR's case to save a couple of overs for CSK's finishers.

Probable XII: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali/Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

Head to Head: CSK 19-10 KKR. CSK have also won five of the last seven games against KKR, who incidentally have won two of their three IPL finals on this ground.

Head to Head Last 5 Matches

CSK won by 7 wickets (with 14 balls remaining), 09-Apr-2024

KKR won by 6 wickets (with 9 balls remaining), 15-May-2023

CSK won by 49 runs, 24-Apr-2023

KKR won by 6 wickets (with 9 balls remaining), 27-Mar-2022

CSK won by 27 runs, 16-Oct-2021