Bottom-scrapers CSK, RR face-off in Delhi with one eye on future

If not for the rearranged final leg of IPL 2025, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would have been hosting Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Chennai on Tuesday. Instead, the teams will now meet in Delhi. Which meant that there was one question on everyone's minds: Have we already seen the last of MS Dhoni at Chepauk?

These two sides occupy the bottom two spots in the points table. While there is pride to play for, they will also have one eye on the future.

Despite the forgettable campaigns, there have been some positives for both CSK and RR this season. Young and explosive batters like Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel and Vaibhav Suryavanshi have given hope and a glimpse into the future of these franchises.

Tuesday will also be RR's final game of the season, and looking back, their bowlers might realise they lacked execution at times, while their batters will count the number of missed opportunities in tight finishes. It was a year of so near yet so far for RR, who will finish last if CSK beat them. The only time RR finished last was in 2020, when the IPL was an eight-team competition.

Chennai Super Kings WLLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals LLLWL

CSK have found a match-winner in left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad. His 20 wickets are the second-most so far this season. Four of those came in CSK's previous match, against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), when Noor helped turn it around with two wickets in the middle overs and death overs each. Ten bowlers have at least 15 wickets this season, and Noor's average of 17.25 is the best among them. At just 20, he surely is a long-term option for CSK.

Riyan Parag, who has led RR every time Sanju Samson was out injured this season, is just 10 runs away from tallying 400. If he gets there, it will be the second successive year he passes that landmark. He is only 23 and made his T20I debut for India last year after a solid IPL. With a home T20 World Cup coming up early next year, Parag will be hoping he can wrap this season up with a notable score and help his chances for his first global tournament.

Brevis, Noor, Devon Conway and Matheesha Pathirana, CSK's four overseas players who played against KKR, are the only ones available for them now. CSK have used 22 players so far this season - the most by any team - with only two more games remaining.

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ayush Mhatre, 2 Urvil Patel, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Ravindra Jadeja, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 R Ashwin, 8 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Khaleel Ahmed, 12 Matheesha Pathirana

Samson pushed himself down to No. 3 against Punjab Kings on his return to fitness after an abdominal injury. That allowed the 14-year-old Suryavanshi to continue to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal. It remains to be seen whether teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius, also a top-order batter who was flown in as an injury replacement, will get a chance.

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Shubham Dubey, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Kwena Maphaka, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Akash Madhwal, 12 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Among the 37 bowlers to have taken at least 300 wickets in all T20s, Wanindu Hasaranga leads the averages with 17.21. But at 34.40, Hasaranga's averaged has doubled, and he has bagged only ten wickets in 37 overs.

The numbers are even worse for his CSK counterpart R Ashwin. He has just five wickets to show in eight games, having taken them at 48.40 each. The last time Ashwin had fewer wickets in an IPL season was in his debut year in 2009.

The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi has hosted five games this season, with the average score batting first being 192. Gujarat Titans hunted down 200 with all ten wickets standing against Delhi Capitals on Sunday at that ground. With short boundaries and the possibility of dew, expect another high-scoring game on what is expected to be a hot Tuesday evening.