Chennai Super Kings are more or less assured of finishing at the bottom of the 10-team Indian Premier League 2025 standings after losing their 10th game of the season out of 13. They have a final game of the season, winning which will see them draw level on points with the Rajasthan Royals, who have finished their full quota of 14 games and have eight points — two more than CSK.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that he would let go of as many as seven CSK players from the IPL 2025 roster if he was calling the shots at the franchise.
“I’ve got a long list actually. I would release [R] Ashwin, [Ravindra] Jadeja, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi…” Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show on Tuesday evening after CSK lost their 10th game of the season by a six-wicket margin to the Rajasthan Royals.
Interestingly, CSK captain MS Dhoni did not feature on Chopra’s list.
MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings during match 62 of IPL 2025 between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. (Sportzpics for IPL)
The grim reality of the season gone by for the five-time champions is that besides Noor Ahmad (second in the Purple Cap standings with 21 wickets in 13 games) not many people have stepped up for the team. The leading run scorer for CSK this season has been Shivam Dube with 340 runs in 13 innings, which only sees him in 21st spot in the Orange Cap race. What has also been particularly shocking is their home form: in six games at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the CSK have won just once, in their first game of IPL 2025 against Mumbai Indians.
READ MORE: ‘If I was MS Dhoni, I would say “enough”’: Sanjay Bangar’s honest take on CSK legend playing another IPL season
The franchise are likely to have a hard look at things in the off season.
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Trade Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadja too has struggled this season for CSK, returning with a total of 280 runs and just eight wickets.
“Probably trade Jadeja. You have Dewald Brevis as your No. 4. I will bat him at No. 4 [instead of Jadeja],” Chopra said. “And I am thinking that this won’t be the one-two-three any which way. This is a stopgap arrangement where you’ve got Devon Conway with Ayush Mhatre [opening] and Urvil Patel at No. 3. That is not going to be your one-two-three. If you are releasing Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, it’s common sense that you will find somebody who can be an absolute banker at the top and probably [even] a destructor at the top. Why would you want Ruturaj Gaikwad to bat again with somebody who is not going hammer and tongs? I want to have Urvil Patel at three [and] I would rather have one more [overseas] guy… I mean, they need Noor Ahmad and [Matheesha] Pathirana, then you need two batters: either you get a finisher with Dewald Brevis, or you get a top-order batter with Dewald Brevis.”