Chennai Super Kings huff and puff to an underwhelming total, and even Rajasthan Royals, with a history of messing up from winning positions, couldn’t squander this opportunity.
A contest between the 9th and 10th-placed teams in the competition should theoretically have been close. But it showed how far behind the rest the old warhorses of Chennai Super Kings have fallen. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, which has seen some big scores set and chased, their 187 was woefully inadequate. Their batsmen have underperformed this season, and their bowlers – especially the spinners – were also found wanting. A six-wicket defeat to fellow strugglers Rajasthan Royals, with as many as 17 balls to spare, would be a chastening experience.
Royals stay true to ethos
It was a game between two cellar-dwellers, but even with nothing at stake in the larger context of the tournament, it was evident that one team relied on youth while the other seemed suspicious of it. On the eve of the game, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming had said that his side will continue to bank on experience as it had brought them trophies.
Well, there’s a word for doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. It’s not smartness. RR were battling to avoid finishing last, but they have chosen to swim or sink with their youngsters. And despite botching up several winnable chases this season, skipper Sanju Samson needs to be commended for biting the bullet and deciding to bowl first.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi has caught the eye with his shot-making and derring-do, Tuesday gave him an opportunity to show some maturity in a chase. He lost opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal relatively early – albeit after another whirlwind start – and the 14-year-old had to build a partnership with his captain.
No fear and pressure 🙅
Just pure finesse 😎Vaibhav Suryavanshi with a scintillating fifty in the chase 🔥
Updates ▶ https://t.co/hKuQlLxjIZ #TATAIPL | #CSKvRR | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/YUsYYeCQC0
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 20, 2025
The two did that with consummate ease and the 98-run second-wicket stand, off 59 balls, broke the back of the chase. When Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed both set batsmen in the same over, the ghosts of old chases may have returned to haunt RR, but Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer didn’t let the game get interesting as a flurry of boundaries, aided by some shoddy CSK bowling, finished proceedings in quick time. Unless something drastic happens against Gujarat Titans in their last game, Dhoni’s team is destined to finish at the bottom.
Muddled thinking
There’s a time-tested adage in limited-overs cricket which says that a team’s best batters should get the opportunity to face the maximum number of deliveries. Of late, this theory has been upended by the fad called ‘entry points’, which prompted the sight of spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin in the middle – with the bat – even before the Powerplay was over. Teenager Ayush Mhatre had injected momentum in the CSK innings after two early wickets with a 20-ball 43, but with the hitting power of Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube in the dugout, the team management chose to use the veteran spin duo.
As it turned out, Brevis and Dube found themselves in the middle with less than eight overs bowled, but with half the side dismissed. It helped that the run rate was close to 10, so the duo had some leeway. They did their best, with the South African – clearly one of the brighter spots in a dismal season for CSK – playing some sparkling shots in his 25-ball 42. Dube tried to take on the mantle thereafter, only with limited success, with his 32-ball 39 helping the team to a total of 187/8, with the second half of the innings bringing only 85 runs.
Crucial 3-fers, ft. Yudhvir Singh and Akash Madhwal👏
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 20, 2025
It was a sporadic innings with a couple of decent knocks. The muddled thinking behind some of the decisions also doesn’t help much.
Story continues below this ad
Shadow of a giant
Dhoni has made a name for himself by taking the game deep and making it a one-on-one contest with the bowler in a who-blinks-first situation. But at this stage of his career, he seems to be taking the game deep even when his team bats first. What else can explain an innings of 17-ball 16 after coming to bat with 6.2 overs left? That included a straight six off part-time off-spinner Riyan Parag. The other 16 balls the CSK skipper faced brought 10 runs. The large crowd, dotted with CSK shirts which gave him a grand reception before and during the game, roared in anticipation whenever Dhoni swung his bat, but the desired connection eluded him.
Stunner 🤯
Tushar Deshpande pulled off an unbelievable catch to dismiss M.S Dhoni 👏
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 20, 2025
At the toss, he had said that the last few games of this IPL season were useful in planning for the future. The franchise had “one eye already on next year, which individuals can play a part,” Dhoni had said. The franchise, and the player himself, have a few decisions to make.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 187/8 in 20 overs (Mhatre 43, Brevis 42, Shivam Dube 39; Madhwal 3/29, Yudhvir Singh 3/47) lost to Rajasthan Royals 188/4 in 17.1 overs (Suryavanshi 57, Samson 41, Jaiswal 36, Jurel 31 not out) by 6 wickets
