"They got all the players they wanted" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's struggles in IPL 2025 after loss to KKR

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are unlikely to recover from their current dismal situation in IPL 2025. He pointed out that the five-time champions have struggled in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League despite acquiring virtually every single player they wanted at the mega auction.

CSK suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 25 of IPL 2025 in Chennai on Friday, April 11. The home team managed only 103/9 after being asked to bat first, with Ajinkya Rahane and company achieving the target with 59 deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener was asked what has gone wrong with CSK in IPL 2025. Chopra noted that Deepak Chahar was potentially the only player the Chennai-based franchise failed to buy at the auction, with the reintroduced uncapped player rule also helping them retain MS Dhoni for just ₹4 crore.

"This team was built after a mega auction. They got whoever they put their finger on in the mega auction. They couldn't buy just one player, that was Deepak Chahar. Apart from him, they got all the players they wanted. They also wanted Dhoni to be uncapped. So that rule was also made for Dhoni, although it benefitted one or two other teams as well," he said (2:00).

The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that CSK are unlikely to bounce back in IPL 2025 due to the lack of intent and skill in their batting.

"When I see from that point of view, I feel there is no way to escape from here because the batting is looking absolutely insipid. They don't have the intent at all in batting, and currently it seems like they don't have the skill either," Chopra observed.

Shivam Dube (31* off 29) and Vijay Shankar (29 off 21) were the only CSK batters to score more than 20 runs in Friday's game. Shankar was the only player who scored at a strike rate of more than 110.

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"The truth is that this wasn't a 103-run pitch" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's dismal batting in IPL 2025 loss to KKR

CSK were 31/2 after the powerplay in their IPL 2025 clash against KKR. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the Chennai Super Kings' total in their IPL 2025 clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders was substantially below par.

"The truth is that this wasn't a 103-run pitch. This was a pitch where a minimum of 145 to 150 runs should have been scored, and if you played well, you could have scored 160 to 165. It wasn't a 200-run pitch, but they didn't do anything in batting," he said (2:50).

The analyst added that CSK's established stars have let the team down.

"You reached only 103 despite catches being dropped. You reached this far because Shivam Dube hit two fours in the end, or else no one is able to bat and I will talk about the big people - Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Ravindra Jadeja after that. Then I will talk about MS Dhoni," Chopra elaborated.

Chopra pointed out that CSK wouldn't have posted a much higher score even if the third umpire's slightly debatable decision had gone in MS Dhoni's favor.

"They even sent (Ravichandran) Ashwin up the order this time. Thala came to bat even below him. That doesn't work. The question would be whether he was out or not. The truth is that the umpire needs conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field umpire's decision. Even if he had not been given out, they might have scored 110-120. It was never going to be enough," he observed.

MS Dhoni (1 off 4) was given out lbw by the on-field umpire off Sunil Narine's bowling. Although the snickometer showed a slight spike when the ball was next to the bat, the third umpire didn't overturn the decision.