CSK vs RR IPL 2025: 3 mistakes made by Chennai Super Kings; Check out IPL 2025 points table

Chennai Super Kings slumped to a second consecutive loss in the 2025 Indian Premier League, as they fell short by 6 runs against Rajasthan Royals last night at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. The Royals got off the mark with their first win of the season, getting through some nervy moments in the second innings. Looking back, there were a few things that the Chennai Super Kings would have wanted to do differently to alter the outcome of this game.

They made a few rookie mistakes and had some brain fade moments during the second innings that costed them the game against Rajasthan Royals.

Here are three mistakes CSK made against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday in IPL 2025: 

1. Bowling Ashwin against Nitish Rana

In this current T20 world where analytics and match-ups are so important, it is almost always a bad idea to ignore data. All previous data suggested that Ravichandran Ashwin won’t be an effective bowler against Nitish Rana, but still, he was given the ball in the powerplay by skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

As of result of that, Ashwin was taken down for a six and a couple of boundaries in his first over. Nitish Rana made the most of some drag-down deliveries from the seasoned off-spinner. Rana has now scored 141 runs off 71 balls against Ravi Ashwin in the IPL, and yesterday was the first time that he was dismissed by the off-spinner. That poor over from Ashwin in the powerplay allowed Rajasthan Royals to race ahead after an early wicket, while Nitish Rana got settled and scored a brilliant 81 off just 36 balls. 

2. Slow start in the powerplay

In the 2025 IPL, Chennai Super Kings have the slowest scoring rate in the powerplay. They are striking at 7.44 in the powerplay across their first three games, which is well below the tournament average of 10.18. In modern-day T20 cricket, the powerplay has become the most important phase as batters are going aggressively to score as many as possible with the field restrictions in place, but CSK opted to play cautiously last evening. 

That slow start was all the more costly last night since the powerplay was the best time to score when the ball was new and hard. The older ball was gripping a bit and cutters were difficult to hit, as witnessed in the first innings where Rajasthan slowed down in the middle phase. Had Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad taken more chances in the first few overs, the outcome of the game could have been different. 

3. Dhoni and Jadeja’s bizarre 18th over

With three overs to spare in the chase, CSK needed 45 runs to win - a target that is achieved pretty often now in modern T20s. However, what followed was a bizarre Maheesh Theekshana over as both batters seemed reluctant to attack. 

Dhoni and Jadeja were content taking singles and doubles, nudging the ball into gaps as Theekshana zipped through the over. There wasn’t a single aggressive shot played in that over, no attempt to hit the ball aerially in that over. Just six runs were conceded off that over, leaving the team in yellow with 39 to win off the final two overs. Given the final margin of defeat was just 6 runs, that lacklustre 18th over proved to be all the difference.