Credit: X
Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn criticised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for their strange batting tactics against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 game played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on May 20. In the contest against RR, when Chennai lost their top-order batters Devon Conway and Urvil Patel early while batting first, they sent Ravichandran Ashwin at number four to support young opener Ayush Mhatre in the middle. The veteran stood at the crease and built a 56-run partnership off 23 balls but could make a contribution of only 13 off eight with a couple of boundaries.
Following the Ashwin’s dismissal, Chennai trusted Ravindra Jadeja at number five. The left-handed batsman failed to produce a solid knock from his bat, scoring only one off five balls. Criticising CSK’s move to promote the bowling all-rounders in the batting all-rounder, Steyn dropped a post on social media. Taking to X, he wrote, “CSK 3 down and they send 2 bowlers to bat. Sometimes I feel their math is not mathing.”
CSK likely to conclude their IPL 2025 campaign at the bottom of the tally
RR crushed CSK in Delhi and this defeat has made it almost clear that the Men in Yellow will conclude their IPL 2025 campaign at the bottom of the points tally. Chennai’s net run rate is the worst in the tournament (-1.030). With three wins in 13 matches, MS Dhoni and his men are sitting at the bottom of the tally.
Their last match is against the table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 25. Super Kings will be required to beat GT by a heavy margin to surpass RR, who hold the net run rate of 0.549 with four wins and 10 defeats. Chennai will strive to end their campaign on a positive note by winning the upcoming game in Ahmedabad while Titans will aim to finish at the top of the tally.
