CSK have won the last three encounters against MI © AFP How big do you like your pictures? Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai Indians. Two five-time champs are head-to-head at prime time on the first Sunday of IPL 2025. This might have been the season opener if it had not been for KKR’s status as defending champions. The stellar cast may be missing a couple of headliners in Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya but with a rivalry this storied who’s to say this isn’t where the tournament truly erupts? Despite the churn of the mega auction and the dawn of a new cycle, familiar threads still run deep in this clash. MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma, who featured in this very fixture 13 years ago are set to line up again. The count rises to five, if you make an allowance for Suryakumar Yadav, then an unused squad member, now MI’s stand-in captain. That IPL 2012 opener at Chepauk is a fitting flashback point before this game for it also marks the last time Mumbai Indians won their opening game of a season. It’s a streak they’d love to end, trivial as it may seem, to ensure their ‘project reset’ starts on firmer footing after a strangely rocky cycle marked by two wooden spoons. CSK, too, will also know that continuity taken too far can spawn stagnation. They heralded a refreshingly new style of batting in 2023 but were leapfrogged by at least four other teams last year. They have a slightly different balance in 2025: perhaps lighter on power, but heavier on spin. It might be just the right squad for the kind of pitch that they used to like to play on in Chennai. Much, then, will hinge on the kind of surfaces that greet them after a 2024 season in which CSK missed the playoffs for the first time while playing their home games at Chepauk. A clash against a hungry and pedigreed rival therefore is more than a blockbuster, it’s an early litmus test. Any cracks they show might not just be noticed – they’ll be targeted. When: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians, Match 3, IPL 2025, March 23, 19:30 IST Where:MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai What to expect: A warm and humid evening. That is a given in Chennai, most times of the year. What isn’t easily forecast, even by the CSK skipper, is the nature of the playing surface. CSK’s coaching staff have taken turns over the last two years to painstakingly stress that the Chepauk pitch hasn’t been the same since 2019. Spin hasn’t been an influencing factor and it remains to be seen if a desired course-correction has been achieved. Dew though could play a role. Teams that chased won five of the seven games here last year and chasing might well be the way to go. Head to Head: CSK 17-20 MI. CSK have cut the deficit with wins in the last three faceoffs. Mumbai Indians though hold a 5-3 edge at Chepauk. Team News Chennai Super Kings Injuries & Availability: CSK don’t have any major injury concerns to report. Tactics & Matchups: If the pitch were to offer any turn, expect Black Caps skipper Mitchell Santner, who has just crossed the yellow-blue divide, to have a major say. But CSK might just have the antidote with as many as four left-handers in their top-six. Probable XII: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj Gaikwad said a decision has been made on the identity of their top-order. It’s essentially a toss-up between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. The former forged a great partnership with Gaikwad in the 2023 title win, even winning the player of the match in the final. But Ravindra is the man in form, having just emerged as the player of the Champions Trophy. Going by his extended net session on the eve of the game and the constant nuggets of information he kept receiving from Michael Hussey and Stephen Fleming, Ravindra is likely to get the first crack. Mumbai Indians Injuries & Availability: MI will have two notable absentees in Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. The former is still sidelined by a back injury he picked up at the New Year’s Test in Sydney while Pandya is serving a one-match ban for his team’s overrate offences last season. Tactics & Matchups: Ruturaj Gaikwad has been dismissed thrice in 26 balls by Trent Boult for the concession of just 23 runs. It’s a match-up that could set the tone for the rest of the game given how influential both players are to their teams’ fortunes. Probable XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Naman Dhir, Robin Minz (wk), Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Satyanarayana Raju/Arjun Tendulkar, Vignesh Puthur Did you know? – Ruturaj Gaikwad won only three tosses from 14 games as captain last season – Suryakumar Yadav averages 14.30 and has struck at only 120.77 in 13 T20s since the South Africa tour last year – MS Dhoni has a strike-rate of 203.85 since the introduction of the Impact Player rule. He was walked out to bat after the 15th over in 23 of the last 24 innings. What they said: “I think we always wanted someone in our bowling department who can be an aggressive bowler, who can come in and take wickets at regular intervals. And there were very few in the auction pool. So, we wanted to get the best whoever is available, and I think Noor is right up there.” – Ruturaj Gaikwad on adding Noor Ahmad to the squad. “Has anyone been able to control him so many years? It’s always an excitement when you come to Chennai. When you watch him come out of the dressing room. We have learnt so many things from him. We still learn. Whenever we get an opportunity, we have a chat with him. So, I am really excited to see him again tomorrow. But from the other side, I will be leading against him. So, it’s a good challenge.” – Suryakumar Yadav on facing MS Dhoni at Chepauk.
