New Delhi: The wretched run of Chennai Super Kings doesn’t seem to end, and the Yellow Army fans can’t wait for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to get over. The formidable force of the world’s most popular cricket league has failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second season running. More remarkably, the early exit in the 2025 edition makes it the first time in the history of IPL that CSK have not made it to the final in two successive years.
But 2024 was different. Last year, CSK fought till the end and were only out of contention after losing their last league game to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). This year, CSK, almost two weeks ago, became the first team to be knocked out of the playoffs race and with just three wins in 13 games, are likely to finish at the bottom of the table in what will be their worst-ever IPL outing.
It’s hard to fathom the enormity of the failure of a team that had qualified for the playoffs in each season from 2008 until 2019. Since missing the top four in 2020, CSK have failed to qualify for the playoffs thrice more in the next three years (2022, 2024 and 2025).
So, how did things go that badly for the five-time champions?
Following the loss against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi on Monday – their 10th this season – CSK head coach Stephen Fleming tried to decode the disastrous outing and sounded optimistic for the next season.
“Our order is not right at this stage, and that is something that we are always looking to rejig. We’ve got some strong ideas for next year, so all those facets are covered. But that hasn’t been possible this year because of the lack of runs at the top.
“A lot of the batting positions are determined by how well a start we have, and then guys can fall into line. We haven’t had that. So we’ve been just patching innings up, really, rather than constructing good innings,” Fleming explained the reason behind the horror run.
CSK’s batting woes
CSK’s biggest concern in IPL 2025 has been the muddled thought process while choosing the batting order and the tame approach of the batters. While the introduction of youth (Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis) has injected some energy and impetus in the play against the new ball during the powerplay, the general lack of intent in the innings has overshadowed the good starts.
The lack of support from the rest of the batters has also limited the impact of Mhatre and Brevis’ aggressive approach.
The constant chopping and changing in the batting order hasn’t helped the cause either. No matter how talented a team is, without a settled and balanced batting order, finding success is nothing but a far-fetched dream.
Fleming revealed that the team management and players are hurting with the position they find themselves in, but want to sign off with a good result.
We don’t obviously like being down here (at the bottom of the points table), but it’s not a motivation. We wanted just a good performance. We’re trying to string some performances together. The aim was two good performances. Now it’ll be one good one to finish.”
CSK’s final match of the campaign is on May 25, Sunday against table toppers Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
IPL 2025: Five-time IPL champions CSK was the first team to be knocked out of the playoffs race. With just three wins in 13 games, CSK are likely to finish at the bottom of the table. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
