3 teams where Matt Henry would have been the perfect fit for IPL 2025 ft. CSK

New Zealand pacer Matt Henry tormented Team India and their fans once again in an ICC event in the 2025 Champions Trophy clash in Dubai on March 2. The 33-year-old picked up his third five-wicket haul in ODIs with outstanding figures of 5 for 42 in eight overs.

Henry dismissed the two centurions from India's previous two matches - Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in the powerplay. The right-arm pacer returned to pick up three more wickets at the waning stages of the innings to restrict India to 249 for 9 in 50 overs.

Henry has grown leaps and bounds in white-ball cricket over the past few years and is averaging an excellent 14.95 in eight ODIs in 2025. Yet, his stock was surprisingly low in the 2025 IPL auction with the Kiwi pacer going unsold (base price of ₹2 crores).

Henry has struggled in his limited appearances in the IPL, picking up only two wickets in six matches at a woeful average of 90.50 and an economy of over 10. However, his white-ball versatility and prowess in recent times in substantially better to what it was when he played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2014 and 2017.

What possibly worked against Henry was his poor IPL 2024 season for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), picking up only the solitary wicket in four matches. Nevertheless, as the veteran pacer leads the wicket-taking charts in the ongoing 2025 Champions Trophy, fans have started wondering if his presence would have bolstered some of the franchises.

On that note, we look at three teams where Matt Henry could have been the ideal fit for the upcoming IPL 2025.

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#1 Chennai Super Kings

CSK fans have been mostly overjoyed with the squad the franchise was able to assemble for the IPL 2025 season. Yet, the one glaringly obvious area of concern in their makeup pointed to by most fans and experts has been the lack of proven new-ball pacers.

While CSK might not realize it's importance in their home games on the slow and low Chepauk wicket, the matches away from home could expose this liability. In Matheesha Pathirana, Nathan Ellis and Jamie Overton, CSK boast overseas pacers that are predominantly at their best in the middle and end overs.

It could be too big a task for Khaleel Ahmed and Anshul Kamboj to carry CSK's new ball attack throughout a long IPL season. With Matt Henry's ability to strike upfront and vary pace in the death overs, the Kiwi pacer could have been the ideal multi-dimensional fast-bowler in the side's arsenal.

Henry previously being part of the CSK setup way back in 2014 could have been an added advantage, considering the franchise's habit of maintaining a standard template and structure.

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#2 Lucknow Super Giants

Another one of Matt Henry's former IPL franchises, LSG, could have used the New Zealand pacer's services for the upcoming season. After missing the playoffs for the first time last season, LSG have assembled an uncertain lineup for IPL 2025.

The roster is filled with overseas batters and Indian bowlers, with the latter lacking in pedigree and experience in the pace department. While Akash Deep, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, and Mayank Yadav have much to offer in terms of skill, they aren't proven performers at the highest level.

Henry himself isn't that in IPL but his featuring regularly in the New Zealand white-ball lineup in big tournaments could have been the ideal veteran presence for LSG. The pacer played only two games in Lucknow last season and with the aid of big boundaries and generally slow pitches on offer at the venue, Henry's renewed off-pace deliveries at the death and striking ability up front would have potentially served the side well.

LSG also have only one foreign pacer in Shamar Joseph in their squad, further enhancing Henry's case to be acquired by the franchise in the 2025 auction.

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#3 Kolkata Knight Riders

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) retained most of their core from the 2024 IPL season, heading into their title defense in 2025. Yet, the loss of ace Mitchell Starc potentially weakened their new-ball bowling despite the franchise replacing him with South African speedster Anrich Nortje.

That said, Nortje's forte isn't always bowling the opening overs in the powerplay and his unfortunate love story with injuries over the past year or two should scare KKR fans. In Vaibhav Arora, the side has a reliable yet inexperience new-ball bowler.

His Indian pace-bowling partner Harshit Rana is at his best when bowling one-change and at the death. The reserves, Spencer Johnson and Umran Malik are on and off at best, which could leave Andre Russell as one of KKR's new-ball overs in the case of an inevitable injury to Nortje.

All of this could have made Henry and KKR the perfect match if the franchise went for him in the auction.