Chennai Super Kings (CSK) really seem to be struggling in the IPL 2025 season. After playing eight matches, they’ve only managed to win two and are sitting at the very bottom of the points table. That’s pretty disappointing for a team with such a strong history. One person who’s not happy about this is former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina, who used to play for CSK and knows the team well. He has been vocal about his feelings on social media, sharing some tough criticism about how the team is performing.
Raina believes that this current CSK lineup is the weakest the franchise has ever fielded. He feels there’s a noticeable lack of drive and passion to win games. Raina mentioned that the spirit and style of cricket that CSK was once famous for just doesn’t seem to be there anymore. He talked about this in a chat with Harbhajan Singh, expressing concern over the team’s direction.
One of Raina’s main points was about the number of local players in the squad. He pointed out that CSK hasn’t included many players from Tamil Nadu, even though the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) has produced some great talent. He specifically mentioned players like B Sai Sudharsan, who is now doing well with the Gujarat Titans, and R Sai Kishore and Shahrukh Khan, who are also part of GT. Raina believes that if CSK wants to do better, they need to bring in more local talent.
He reminisced about the success of CSK back in the day when local players like Murali Vijay, L Balaji, S Badrinath, and others, including MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja, were crucial parts of the team. Raina argued that without local players contributing to the squad, it simply won’t work.
This season, some of CSK’s veteran players, such as Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who are among the highest-paid players in the league, just aren’t performing like they used to. The younger players have also struggled to show up consistently. Even highly touted international players like Rachin Ravindra and Matheesha Pathirana haven’t been able to match their previous performances.
Raina also took issue with how CSK has been approaching their batting this season. He commented on how when they played in Chennai, they focused on avoiding dot balls and rotating the strike, which kept the pressure on opponents. Back in the day, they’d make sure to play strategically right from the start of the innings, and players like MS Dhoni and Albie Morkel knew how to finish strong. That combination of strategies used to lead to victories.
In their recent match against their long-time rivals, the Mumbai Indians, CSK faced yet another tough defeat, losing by nine wickets. Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav played superbly, with Sharma scoring 76 and Yadav contributing 68. In the end, CSK didn’t have enough to keep up, and MI wrapped things up with 26 balls to spare. It’s clear that CSK has some work to do if they want to turn their season around.
