AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Apr 4
Delhi Capitals (DC) have emerged as the early pace-setters, along with Punjab Kings (PBKS), in IPL 2025 while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been dreadfully off the pace so far. Having suffered their biggest-ever defeat at Chepauk, in terms of runs last Friday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and a much narrower loss away from home against Rajasthan Royals (RR), CSK will be hoping for some home advantage this Saturday. Their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is under an injury cloud, and if he doesn’t recover in time MS Dhoni is likely to captain CSK on Saturday.
After CSK’s 50-run defeat against RCB, their head coach Stephen Fleming was spotted having a chat with the pitch curator, with a member of the groundstaff in tow. He then came out to the press conference and expressed his discontent with the nature of the surfaces being rolled out at Chepauk over the past two years. Expecting purchase for the spinners, CSK packed their squad with bowlers of slower variety, but the pitches haven’t really aided them.
Three games into the season, CSK are also searching for their best combination. Rahul Tripathi has been struggling at the top while Vijay Shankar, who was swapped in for Deepak Hooda in Guwahati, also fell without making a substantial contribution with the bat. Old-ball specialist Jamie Overton, who was handed the new ball, ended up leaking 30 runs in two powerplay overs.
As for DC, they look in much healthier shape, having recruited experienced super-specialists who have dovetailed beautifully with the youngsters. Faf du Plessis continues to go strong at 40 while Mitchell Starc has hit the ground running this season, with eight strikes in two games at an average of 9.62 and an economy rate of 10.04. Rookies Vipraj Nigam and Ashutosh Sharma have seamlessly slotted into the side and have already played match-winning hands.
Even if Chepauk dishes out a pitch that turns, DC have captain Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Nigam to exploit it and turn the tables on CSK. They look ready to end their 15-year jinx against CSK at Chepauk: the last time they beat them was in 2010 when their current coach Hemang Badani was part of the CSK squad as a player. Badani then transitioned into a coach and led Chepauk Super Gillies to multiple titles in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), which put him back on the IPL radar. Will it be a happy homecoming for Badani?
