Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh said that had Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja played in the match against Punjab Kings, he believed that Chennai Super Kings would have won. He stated that Ashwin might be sitting out due to some issue with someone.
Chennai has had a bad season, winning just two of ten matches in IPL 2025 now. Their plan of depending on old experience has failed as players have shown signs of not performing at their best. Ashwin started the season quite slow with just five wickets in seven of his matches and at a very high economy rate.
Unlike previous outings, Harbhajan stated on JioHotstar, “Chennai did not select the team according to the pitch. Had Noor Ahmad, Ashwin, and Jadeja played, they might’ve won.” He added, “You don’t pay ₹10 crore for Ashwin just to leave him on the bench. I don’t know what’s going on but the buzz is there seems to be some disagreement.”
The myriad set up that was expected to have come along with Jadeja as well as Noor for a strong spin attack on an otherwise dry Chennai wicket actually seemed not very impressive because their seasoned players have not been performing at their best. As per Harbhajan, he is not getting a chance while several players are being given opportunities despite poor performances, but Ashwin is out. He should’ve definitely played against Punjab given that the pitch was spinning.
Having languished at the bottom of the table for much of the campaign, Chennai will hope to redeem themselves in IPL 2025. A victory against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday, May 3, will be duly welcome and help propel them up the table to avoid finishing in the bottom-most position.
With only Khaleel Ahmed and Noor in the frame, Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar will be hoping to make good use of the poor Chennai bowling pack. Bengaluru bowlers have managed well with the little support they have got, and Chennai will be praying that their batsmen, Ayush Mhatre, Sam Curran, Dewald Brevis, and Shivam Dube, can step up to support MS Dhoni from crucial situations.
