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?
Alagappan Muthu
24-Apr-2025
Big picture: 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.
Form guide
Chennai Super Kings: LWLLL (last five matches, most recent first)Sunrisers Hyderabad: LLWLL
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.
Team news and probable XIIs: SRH could choose an extra spinner
CSK have used 20 of 27 players this season, which makes predicting their XIIs a bit of a lottery. Many of the younger players in the squad were involved in match simulation training at their High Performance Academy on Wednesday. It is learnt new recruit Dewald Brevis batted at No. 4.
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Rachin Ravindra, 2 Shaik Rasheed, 3 Ayush Mhatre, 4 Ravindra Jadeja, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Vijay Shankar, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Jamie Overton, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Khaleel Ahmad, 11 Matheesha Pathirana
SRH might want to bring in an extra spinner in Chennai, Rahul Chahar or Kamindu Mendis.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Travis Head, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Rahul Chahar/Zeeshan Ansari, 12 Kamindu Mendis/Eshan Malinga
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.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo