Chennai Super Kings (CSK) kicked off their IPL 2025 campaign with a thrilling four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) joined Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as teams that started their IPL 2025 journey with a victory. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians (MI) continued their frustrating trend of poor starts in the tournament.
Despite being one of the most successful franchises in IPL history, with five titles to their name alongside CSK, MI has struggled to win their opening game for over a decade. Their last season-opening victory came all the way back in 2012—ironically, against CSK.
In a fierce matchup between two of the league’s fiercest rivals, CSK maintained composure to pursue the target and begin the season with a victory.
Chennai Super kings’ (CSK) first win of IPL 2025
With Rahul Tripathi, Rachin Ravindra, and Devon Conway in the lineup, the Chennai Super Kings had to make a difficult decision on their starting lineup. Many people anticipated that Rachin would bat at the top with Ruturaj Gaikwad because Tripathi had a habit of batting at number three. But CSK had other ideas.
The squad surprised everyone by putting Tripathi and Rachin, who had been preferred in practice matches, to the test when they came out to chase 156. CSK took a risk by pushing Gaikwad down to No. 3, knowing he usually needs time to settle in.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s scorching half-century and Rachin Ravindra’s calm finish helped CSK make the chase appear easy. Gaikwad set the tone with a fast-paced fifty, assisting CSK in soaring to 74/1 in just seven overs after losing Rahul Tripathi early.
Rachin assumed leadership after the captain left, making sure there were no disruptions and remaining undefeated until the very end. With three wickets, rookie Vignesh Puthur made an impression on the bowling front, but CSK was never truly out of reach of the objective.
Mumbai Indian (MI) struggled to win
The Mumbai Indians struggled to gain momentum as they staggered to 153/9 after finding it difficult to adapt to the spin-friendly conditions at Chepauk. Noor Ahmad, a young spin wonder from Afghanistan, caused the most damage with a match-winning spell of 4/18 that left MI batters in the dark.
CSK’s bowlers put pressure on MI right from the powerplay, as they quickly dismissed Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton, and Rohit Sharma. They relied on Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma to hold the innings together with a vital 51-run partnership. However, Noor hit thrice in a single over, destroying MI’s middle order just as they were about to change tactics.
Deepak Chahar’s late appearance at the end gave MI a much-needed boost and made sure they had a fighting total to defend at the very least. On a field where CSK has traditionally dominated run chases, their efforts were never enough.
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