MI vs CSK IPL 2025: Three mistakes made by Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings slumped to their sixth defeat in the Indian Premier League 2025 as Mumbai Indians handed them a nine-wicket defeat in the reverse fixture at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. CSK’s win over Lucknow Super Giants last week brought some hope back into the CSK dug-out. However, a crushing defeat over MI means Chennai’s chances of making it into the playoffs are now all but over. On a good batting surface, Hardik Pandya invited CSK to bat first. Once again, the openers couldn’t get the team off to a good start and they ended up posting a below-par score of 176 runs in the first innings.

The second innings saw Rohit Sharma returning to form coupled with a stellar knock from Suryakumar Yadav. Courtesy of the duo’s brilliance with the bat, Mumbai Indians chased down the score in just 15.4 overs with nine wickets in hand. In this article, let’s take a look at three mistakes made by Chennai Super Kings in the MI vs CSK IPL 2025 match.

Three mistakes made by CSK in MI vs CSK IPL 2025 match: 

1. No intent from openers in the powerplay 

It seems like the CSK’s openers aren’t willing to learn from their previous failures in the IPL 2025. Once again, they showed no intent whatsoever in the powerplay as Rasheed and Ravindra managed just 16 runs in the first three overs. Rachin Ravindra eventually fell on the first ball of the fourth over, leaving his team once again in trouble. It has been a sorry season for Rachin, who just hasn’t managed to get going. On the other hand, Shaik Rasheed also found it hard to score boundaries and got dismissed for 19 off 20 balls. 

Ayush Mhatre’s debut came as a big positive for the Yellow Army. Making his debut against MI, he showcased what CSK was missing in the powerplay. He took to the attack right from the start of the innings and helped CSK reach 48 at the end of the powerplay. 

2. Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja fail to capitalize in middle overs

Ayush Mhatre brought a renewed sense of energy to the CSK camp with his brilliant striking in his maiden outing. After a dull period of the first three overs, Mhatre came to the crease and shifted the momentum with aggressive intent. He played a brilliant cameo of 32 off 15 balls, laying the right foundation to capitalize. However, between 8th and 13th over, CSK only scored 33 runs. Shivam Dube and Jadeja should have capitalized but the duo hit just two fours during this phase. 

The acceleration began after the 13th over and both ended up scoring respective half-centuries. However, on a good batting surface, both were needed to up the ante after the powerplay but they failed to do so. CSK found themselves 30-40 runs short in the end. 

3. Fielding effort continues to hamper CSK 

Notably, Chennai Super Kings have dropped 16 catches- the most by any team in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. There were a few tough chances in the last game which they couldn’t quite latch onto. Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Khaleel Ahmed all had the chance to break the partnership between Rohit and Suryakumar. However, none were able to latch on to their respective catching opportunity. Besides, ground fielding in the game and in the overall season, hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence, either.