CSK’s Desperate Mission: Spark a Course Correction Against Top-Four Chasing LSG
MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings face a daunting task in Lucknow, as they battle to spark a course correction against a rampaging Lucknow Super Giants, who have been firing on all cylinders this season.
CSK’s return to captaincy duties for MS Dhoni stirred a strong sense of deja vu. But for the five-time title-winning skipper, it’s been far from a happy throwback. His team once again resembles a ‘ship full of holes’ he spoke of in 2020, the season they sunk to a second-from-bottom finish. The signs this year are even more ominous – in that 2020 season, CSK had one more win at this stage than they do now.
Fleming has confirmed what many of the CSK faithful now fear – Dhoni has no ‘magic wand’ to flip their season around. His side is knee-deep in a batting quicksand that needs careful attention over the next month, starting from Monday. They arrived in Lucknow on the back of a harrowing home defeat, where they played as many dot balls (61) as their opposition (KKR) needed deliveries to chase down the target. With and without Ruturaj Gaikwad, there’s been a clear absence of batting intent that’s left them a distant second-best in all their five defeats. CSK will hope the soul-searching they’ve done since the last home loss, per Fleming, will spark a course correction.
On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, carry none of CSK’s woes into their fourth home fixture of the season. They’ve enjoyed three wins and just one loss at the Ekana Stadium and have the tournament’s most prolific six-hitter turning out for them. Rishabh Pant’s returns have been worrisome and worth sweating over, but the LSG captain has been able to breathe easy with the batting cushion of his top-three (Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, and Pooran). LSG’s bowling has needed some rescuing in a couple of their wins, but even that facet of their game has slowly started to come together.
Having catapulted into the top 4 with their win over Gujarat Titans on Saturday, LSG now have the opportunity to reach for the very top by digging their heels into an out-of-sorts opposition. CSK don’t have the luxury of even thinking of points-table position as yet, with only a focus on collecting a succession of points capable of saving their ship from capsizing for good.
When: LSG vs CSK, April 14, 2025, 07:30 PM IST
Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium
What to expect: Even square dimensions.
Probable XIs:
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana
Did You Know:
- In IPL 2025, Nicholas Pooran has struck at a strike rate of 272.46 against spin and at 173.11 against pace
- CSK have dropped 13 catches and missed 9 run outs this year. LSG have dropped 9 and missed 14 run-outs
- CSK and LSG have the two worst economy rate in the PowerPlay, with 10.58 and 10.72 respectively
What They Said:
"Both of us are happy to have Nicholas Pooran in our team. You want someone like that to be in our team rather than the opposition. The way he has been batting is phenomenal" – Rishabh Pant on his own form and the advantage of having Pooran in his corner.
"It’s a big challenge, there’s no doubt about it. So we’ve got to look at it in small steps and just continue to work to get better at all three facets really, and then you start competing. I think the disappointing aspect in particular the last game was the lack of competition we put up and that hurt a lot. There’s certainly been a lot of internal soul searching, but also a lot of work around what we need to do" – CSK head coach Stephen Fleming on the prospect of bouncing back from five successive defeats.
Keywords: CSK, LSG, IPL 2025, MS Dhoni, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Stephen Fleming
Hashtags: #CSK #LSG #IPL2025 #MSD #NicholasPooran #RishabhPant #StephenFleming
