“At CSK, you can’t complain” - Discarded batter’s massive statement after Chennai Super Kings’ loss to RCB in IPL 2025 match

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has remarked that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have set such a high standard over the years that complaining is not tolerated. His comments came after head coach Stephen Fleming's assessment of the pitch used for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday, highlighting the lack of home advantage in recent seasons.

CSK slumped to a 50-run defeat on their home ground, the MA Chidambaram Stadium, after failing to chase down 197 against their Southern rivals. The five-time champions were far from impressive across departments, leading to Fleming lamenting the nature of their home pitch.

"Well, as we've been telling you for a number of years, there was no home advantage at Chepauk. We've won away from home a couple of times. And we haven't been able to read… we've been really honest with you. We haven't been able to read the wickets here in the last couple of years. So, it's not new. We are trying to come to grips each day with what we get, and we don't know," Fleming said during the post-match press conference (via ESPNcricinfo).

"It's not the Chepauk [of old] where you can just go in and play four spinners," Fleming added. "We're having to work really hard to try and understand what the nature of each pitch is, and it's quite different."

While CSK's opening clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) had shades of the traditional Chepauk, the surface used against RCB behaved differently. The opposition pacers were able to come into play, with the pitch offering pace and carry, while the home spinners, including veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, struggled.

Pujara, who was part of the CSK setup in 2021, expressed his surprise at the franchise not availing the surfaces of their desire in the IPL.

"At CSK you can't complain, that's one franchise where they have been preparing pitches according to their strength, and you should do that. If they are saying that they are not getting the pitches or that they don't have a say, then I'm quite surprised," Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo.

What might be happening is that they might be expecting something out of the pitch, but because there have been some changes in the pitch, it is not behaving the way they wanted it to behave," Pujara added.

There has been an uproar over the friction between franchises and pitch curators, with a recent incident being reported for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Captain Ajinkya Rahane had lamented the lack of support for the spinners after the season opener loss to RCB at the Eden Gardens.

However, the head curator, Sujan Mukherjee, blamed KKR spinners and refused to tweak the nature of the surface. He insisted that franchises' demands are not considered as far as pitch preparation is concerned.

CSK have lost three out of their last six matches at home

Taking the recent loss to RCB in IPL 2025 into account, CSK have now lost three of their last six matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. In the latter half of the 2024 season, the Yellow Army suffered losses at home against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS), with heavy dew playing a huge role in their inability to defend the targets.

CSK's next home game is scheduled for Saturday, April 5, against the Delhi Capitalls (DC).