Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be keen to start their campaign in IPL 2025 with a win when they take on Mumbai Indians (MI). The CSK vs MI IPL 2025 match is scheduled to take place on Sunday (March 23) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Chennai Super Kings will be looking to enjoy a better campaign this season after failing to defend the title last year. Despite being the defending champions, the Chennai-based outfit struggled for consistency throughout the season. They eventually finished their season with seven wins and as many defeats.
CSK finished their campaign at the fifth spot in the points table and missed out on a playoff spot because of their inferior net run rate. They will be looking to make amends this season. With Chennai Super Kings gearing up for their first game of the season, we are taking a look at the CSK Playing 11 for their forthcoming contest against MI.
CSK Playing 11 vs Mumbai Indians- IPL 2025, Match 3:
Openers: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Devon Conway
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway are set to be the openers in the Chennai Super Kings Playing 11 this season. They had opened the innings for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023, playing a key role in the team’s title-winning season. Conway then missed the 2024 season due to an injury and will be looking to hit the ground running.
The New Zealand star has shown that he can excel in Indian conditions and will be looking to enjoy a good season with the bat. In IPL 2023, Conway had scored 672 runs in 16 matches. Overall, he has scored 924 runs in 23 IPL games so far including nine fifties.
Captain Gaikwad will look to lead his team from the front once again. He did well with the bat last year but could not guide the team to the playoffs. Gaikwad finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer behind only Virat Kohli, scoring 583 runs with the help of a century and four fifties.
Middle-order batsmen and allrounders: Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk)
Rachin Ravindra is coming to the IPL after enjoying a fine campaign in the Champions Trophy where he won the Golden Bat and was named Player of the Tournament. The southpaw had scored 263 runs in just four innings at an average of 68.75, including two centuries. Ravindra had struggled with the bat last season and will look to make amends in IPL 2025.
Chennai Super Kings have secured the services of Rahul Tripathi for this season. A reliable middle-order batsman, Tripathi can bat at a good pace and will look to hit the ground running for his new IPL team. So far, he has played 95 games in the IPL and has scored 2236 runs with 12 fifties.
The other options in the Chennai Super Kings Playing 11 are Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, and MS Dhoni. While Dube is expected to play mainly as a batsman, Jadeja will be the main allrounder in the CSK Playing 11. Both Dube and Jadeja are key to CSK’s plans and will look to live up to the expectations.
Dube has played 65 IPL games so far, scoring 1502 runs with the help of nine fifties. With Chennai Super Kings likely to play on spin-friendly pitches, they will be relying on Dube to attack the spinners. Jadeja, on the other hand, will have to play a key role with both bat and ball.
While Dhoni is expected to be a regular in the CSK Playing 11 this season, he is unlikely to face too many deliveries. Last year, he faced only 73 deliveries and is likely to play a similar role this season as well. His presence and leadership, however, will be very crucial for Chennai Super Kings.
Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana is set to lead the pace attack for Chennai Super Kings. The Sri Lanka pacer is one of the best T20 bowlers in the world at present and will look to further enhance his reputation. He has picked up 34 wickets in just 20 IPL games so far.
Anshul Kamboj is likely to be the other pacer in the CSK Playing 11. Kamboj became a household name in November last year after taking all 10 wickets in an innings during the Ranji Trophy game against Kerala and will look to make an impact in the IPL as well.
For the spin department, CSK is set to depend on Ravichandran Ashwin and Noor Ahmed. Ashwin has returned to CSK after a gap of more than a decade and will look to hit the ground running. He is well familiar with the conditions in Chennai and can play a key role for CSK this year.
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