The struggle of the Chennai Super Kings is very difficult to watch for the fans and multiple cricket analysts alike. The five-time champions of the tournament were bowled to just 128 runs, and the bowlers were unable to take a wicket. Swallowing the defeat of the Chennai Super Kings is not an easy pill for fans of this star-studded lineup. Experienced cricket analyst and former Indian player Akash Chopra stated that “The transition for CSK is not easy because as a team that relies heavily on experience, suddenly going for youngsters, the process takes time.”
The failure of the batting lineup is one of the biggest concerns for the CSK franchise, especially in IPL 2025. The Chennai Super Kings were facing the same problem in the previous year's IPL, where the franchise was not able to put up a huge score to give their bowlers a cushion. Even after the availability of star player Sanju Samson, the problems for CSK are not vanishing.
The transition phase of CSK
After a devastating season in IPL 2025, the Chennai Super Kings stepped into the IPL auction with a clear mind set that is invest in the youngsters. The CSK franchise is ready to step into the transition phase and start their IPL 2026 with a huge investment in an Indian uncapped player. In the IPL auction CSK franchise paid a total of 28.4 crore to get both Prashanth Veer and Kartik Sharma. This use of investment shows their interest in using the power of young talent.
After the defeat of CSK, cricket analyst Aakash Chopra said in a social media post, “The transition phase for CSK will be extremely difficult, especially without the availability of MS Dhoni and Dewald Bravis. This season, CSK will have to struggle to transition from a team full of experienced players to a youngster-studded lineup.” He further said, “Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not able to perform, but Shivam Dubey is the only experienced player. The unavailability of MS Dhoni and Dewald Bravis will be very painful for CSK”.
Ravi Ashwin on CSK loss
Former Indian and CSK player Ravichandran Ashwin also put out his views regarding the loss of CSK against the Rajasthan Royals. Ravichandran Ashwin put up a video on his YouTube channel where he explained the batting downfall of CSK. During the talk, Ashwin said, “ Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson are a good opening pair only if Dewald Bravis is playing at Number 3. If Dewald Bravis is not available in the playing 11, then it is the right idea to split Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson.”
He concluded by saying, “Ruturaj Gaikwad must open with Ayush Mhatre, and Sanju Samson must anchor the inning from number 3. This will offer Momentum to the team and experience to the death over. The bowling line-up of CSK is also weak; however, this betting collapse is temporary because the pitch of the ground was in favour of the bowlers.”
Reaction of the captain
During the post-match interview with the captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, he said, “ I am not very frustrated. The conditions were tough at the start, especially when facing Jofra and Burger. They bold well, and even the medium-pacer was a bit tough. The spinners also got some help. We could have batted better. taken the game deep. Maybe we could have a score of 150-160 runs. But nowadays, you never know what a good score is, so you just have to keep going. I think it was one of those days when the pitch was a bit tough. So I am not frustrated at all”.
He further said, “We just put it behind us and move on. We have a game in 3 days. We need to make sure everyone is in a mindset. It is good that we have a lot of players. It was a start, but it is good to get a game out of the way and start with a lot of mistakes. hopefully we will get better from here”.
The CSK franchise is not taking this loss to heart, and they are very positive regarding the upcoming matches. The conditions in Guwahati were also very difficult, especially when you are batting first. The top order of CSK is likely to perform better in the upcoming matches. The comeback of Dewald Bravis and MS Dhoni will be very reliable for the Chennai Super Kings campaign because both of these individuals are reliable batsmen and helped the team to get the momentum they needed.
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