MS Dhoni’s return to captaincy duties evoked a profound sense of familiarity. But for the five-time title-winning skipper, it’s been far from a happy throwback. His team once again resembles a ‘ship full of holes’ he spoke of in 2020, the season they sank to a second-from-bottom finish. The signs this year are even more ominous — in that 2020 season, CSK had one more win at this stage than they do now.
Fleming has confirmed what many of the CSK faithful now fear : Dhoni has no ‘magic wand’ to flip their season around. Deeply entrenched in a challenging batting situation, his team will require meticulous attention over the upcoming month, starting on Monday. They arrived in Lucknow on the back of a harrowing home defeat, where they played as many dot balls (61) as their opposition (KKR) needed deliveries to chase down the target. With and without Ruturaj Gaikwad, there’s been a clear absence of batting intent that’s left them a distant second-best in all their five defeats. CSK will hope the soul-searching they’ve done since the last home loss, per Fleming, will spark a course correction.
Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, carry none of CSK’s woes into their fourth home fixture of the season. They’ve won three and lost one at Ekana Stadium, and the tournament’s best six-hitter plays for them. Although Rishabh Pant’s returns have been concerning, the LSG captain has found solace in the batting cushion provided by his top three players (Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, and Pooran). LSG’s bowling has needed some rescuing in a couple of their wins, but even that facet of their game has slowly started to come together.
After securing a spot in the top 4 with their victory over Gujarat Titans on Saturday, LSG now has the chance to climb to the top by challenging an inconsistent opposition. CSK don’t have the luxury of even thinking of points-table position as yet, with only a focus on collecting a succession of points capable of saving their ship from capsizing for good.
When: LSG vs CSK, April 14, 2025, 07:30 PM IST
Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium
What to expect: even square dimensions. After hosting PBKS on a red-soil wicket and both MI and GT on black soil, LSG will play CSK on pitch No. 5 of 9—a mixed- soil surface.
A gusty windstorm sent the ground staff scrambling to cover the pitch half an hour into CSK’s training on Sunday, leaving it covered for over an hour. But the rain stayed away, allowing a full session for the few who turned up. There is no forecast for rain on match day either.
Head-to-head: LSG 3 – 1 CSK in 5 matches with one no-result. All four games between the two sides have been high-scoring contests.
Team Watch:
Lucknow Super Giants:
Injury/Unavailability: Mitchell Marsh missed the previous game on Saturday due to an illness in his daughter. LSG did not train on Sunday, but Marsh is expected to be available for Monday’s fixture.
Tactics & Matchups: LSG pacers need to go hard at Rachin Ravindra and test him with a short ball, as there are no concerns about skewed boundary dimensions in this game— a ploy that has worked well against him in the IPL. He’s managed to hit 97 runs off 74 short-pitched deliveries while being dismissed six times to that length already in IPL 2024 and 2025 combined.
Probable XII: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
Chennai Super Kings:
Injury/Unavailability: Fleming allayed any injury concerns surrounding Shivam Dube from the KKR fixture, clarifying that it was just “a little bit of cramp.” The left-hander was among the few batters to hit the nets on Sunday and showed no visible discomfort in his movements.
Tactics & Matchups: A top-order collapse in the last game prevented CSK from using Matheesha Pathirana as an impact substitute. Unleashing the Sri Lankan in Lucknow, however, will be imperative. Pathirana has dismissed Pooran four times in 25 T20 deliveries, conceding only run-a-ball.
R Ashwin is also a viable option against Pooran, despite the West Indian’s outrageous numbers against spin this season and the off-spinner’s own patchy form. But it must be tempting given Ashwin has dismissed him three times in 43 deliveries in the format, conceding just 40 runs.
Probable XII: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana
Did You Know:
– In IPL 2025, Nicholas Pooran has struck at a strike rate of 272.46 against spin and at 173.11 against pace.
– CSK have dropped 13 catches and missed 9 run outs this year. LSG have dropped 9 and missed 14 run-outs.
– CSK and LSG have the two worst economy rates in the PowerPlay, with 10.58 and 10.72, respectively.
What They Said:
“I am feeling much better with every game. The more time I spend on the wicket, the better I am going to feel. We are thrilled to have Nicholas Pooran in our team. You want someone like that to be in our team rather than the opposition. The way he has been batting is phenomenal” – Rishabh Pant on his own form and the advantage of having Pooran in his corner.
“It’s a big challenge; there’s no doubt about it. So we’ve got to look at it in small steps and just continue to work to get better at all three facets, really, and then you start competing. I think the last game was disappointing because we didn’t compete, and that hurt. There’s certainly been a lot of internal soul searching, but also a lot of work around what we need to do” – CSK head coach Stephen Fleming on the prospect of bouncing back from five successive defeats.
Squads:
Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Matthew Breetzke, Shamar Joseph, Mitchell Marsh, Manimaran Siddharth, Aryan Juyal, RS Hangargekar, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Yadav, Arshin Kulkarni
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (w/c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Hooda, Matheesha Pathirana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shaik Rasheed, Jamie Overton, Shreyas Gopal, Sam Curran, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi. Source cricbuzz
For More information and lates update about IPL2025 visit sports.apexadpros
