Top player battles to watch out for in the CSK vs KKR IPL 2025 match

In the 23rd encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be locking horns with the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) scheduled to be hosted at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on 11 April, 2025. Interestingly, both these teams will be feeling very much low on confidence as they are coming into this game after conceding poor losses in their respective previous outings durig the ongoing edition of the T20 tournament. The Chennai Super Kings ended up conceding a poor 18-run loss at the hands of Punjab Kings during their most recent IPL 2025 match while Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a heartening 4-run defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants. Thus, both these teams will be aiming to make a winning comeback in this middle-phase of the tournament. 

CSK vs KKR IPL head to head records

Things have gone massively downtown for the Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing 18th edition of the Indian Premier League especially after an impressive win in their opening clash of the season against the Mumbai Indians. The five-time champions have suffered four straight losses at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings. On the other hand, it has been a tournament of mixed fortunes for the Kolkata Knight Riders so far. Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to win 2 out of their 5 matches and they have lacked consistency in this competition. 

While talking about the CSK vs KKR IPL head to head battle, the Chennai Super Kings have taken the lead to a great extent. Out of the 30 matches played between these two teams, the Chennai Super have managed to win as many as 19 games and Kolkata Knight Riders have emerged victorious on 10 occasions while one match ended without a result. During their IPL 2024 face-off, the Chennai Super Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets. 

3 player battles to watch out for in the CSK vs KKR IPL 2025 match

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Sunil Narine

Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaiwkad led his team from the front smashing a fine match-winning knock in the first match against Mumbai Indians and he also scored a half-century in the game against Rajasthan Royals. However, barring these two innings, the CSK captain has failed to contribute with much of runs in the remaining matches. On the other hand, senior off-spinner Sunil Narine has failed to deliver the goods this season so far both with the ball and bat. It has been a neck-to-neck contest between these two cricketers over the years in the IPL. Ruturaj has a strike-rate of close to 130 while Narine has dismissed the right-hander just once in the history of the competition. 

2. Ajinkya Rahane vs Ravichandran Ashwin

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane has looked in an impressive form during the Indian Premier League 2025 season having scored 184 runs from as many as 5 matches. The right-hander also notched up an excellent knock of 61 runs off only 35 balls that included 8 fours and 2 sixes during the previous game against Lucknow Super Giants. On the other side, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has not been at his best so far in this competition as he has leaked too many runs especially in the first six overs of the powerplay. However, Ashwin has an exceptional record against the KKR captain. The CSK off-spinner has dismissed Rahane a total of six times in the IPL history and the batter has a strike-rate of below 110. Thus, both these players will once again be in focus during the Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2025 match starting on Friday. 

3. MS Dhoni vs Varun Chakravarthy

Former CSK captain and veteran finisher MS Dhoni has definitely lost his prime as he is consistently failing to finish matches this season. He has smashed a total of 103 runs from as many as 5 matches in IPL 2025 at a strike-rate of more than 153. On the other hand, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has delivered decent performances in this tournament so far having picked up a total of 6 wickets from 5 matches. But, Chakravarthy has an incredible record against the veteran wicket-keeper batter in the IPL history. Varun has got the better of Dhoni as many as three times and the finisher has a poor strike-rate of below 70.