It seems like Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are playing medieval cricket. In an era where 200 seems to be the par score in T20s and teams are scoring over 230 with ease, CSK hadn’t scored 180 once in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season before this Punjab Kings (PBKS) match.
The last time CSK was able to successfully chase a target of over 180 runs was in 2018. It’s been nearly seven seasons, and they can’t score over 9+ runs per over while batting second. They still seem to be relying on anchors. An approach that teams have left in the dust.
CSK far behind other IPL teams
Devon Conway has a strike rate of 128 in T20s. In the IPL, it improves to 140. The same goes for CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who strikes at 137 in the league. But they aren’t the only two slow players. Rachin Ravindra is a fast hitter as per CSK standards; he’s scored at 133.02 in IPL 2025. That’s the top three.
CSK don’t seem to recover from what they do. Shivam Dube hasn’t been in great touch. MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja are shadows of what they used to be. They have also played Vijay Shankar, who might not be fit to play the anchor role either. His strike rate isn’t even 130, and he plays from number four to six.
It seems like they are entirely dependent upon Rachin and Dube for scoring rapidly. If they go well, they’ll reach a par score and hope their bowlers will defend it. Both are forgetting that all the other nine IPL teams have a better batting lineup. On a batting surface, in no way can CSK batters match them.
This isn’t a one-off. PBKS aren’t the only ones who have out-batted them. In the IPL 2025 season, they have faced five opponents, and barring the Mumbai Indians, all of them out-hit them. When teams like Delhi Capitals have someone like Ashutosh Sharma, who literally won them a match on his own in the end. Meanwhile, CSK has Ravindra Jadeja, a player who, as a finisher, has a strike rate of 129 and, not to forget, is 36 years old.
At this moment, you’d think someone like Priyansh Arya might play over someone like Conway or Gaikwad in a jiffy. And he’s got just 21 T20 matches and only 4 IPL games. One has to really question, barring either Dube or Rachin, would any CSK batter find a place in any other IPL team? The answer might just be no.
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