CSK's powerplay woes persist in IPL 2025: Key stats
What's the story
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)'s powerplay struggles continue to haunt them in the ongoing 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Batting first in their latest outing against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, CSK lost three wickets inside the powerplay while managing 50 runs.
Their top order has constantly faltered this year as CSK find themselves in the lower half of the points table.
Here we decode CSK's powerplay woes in IPL 2025.
Match update
Three wickets lost inside powerplay
CSK were off to a terrible start with Mohammed Shami dismissing Shaik Rasheed on the very first ball of the game.
Though the young Ayush Mhatre (30 off 19) batted with aggression at one end, Sam Curran (9) fell to Harshal Patel in the fifth over.
The last over of powerplay also marked Mhatre's departure as Pat Cummins was his nemesis.
Hence, CSK were 50/3 after six overs.
Run rate
Lowest run rate in powerplay
As per ESPNcricinfo, CSK have scored runs at just 7.90 in powerplay this season.
No other team has a sub-9 run rate in this phase.
While the Yellow Brigade have lost 15 wickets inside the first six overs, only SRH (16) and Punjab Kings (16) have lost more wickets in this phase.
This is indeed a worrying sign for the Super Kings as they are reeling at the bottom of the table with just two wins in eight concluded games.
Troubles
Four different opening pairs
CSK have used four different opening pairs in nine games so far.
Besides Rasheed and Mhatre, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, and Rahul Tripathi have batted at the top for CSK.
However, none of them have been effective as the Super Kings boast just two 50-plus opening stands this year.
On the other seven occasions, the openers could not yield even 20 runs as a pair.
Loss
The massive loss of Ruturaj Gaikwad
Notably, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led CSK in the team's first five IPL 2025 matches, has been ruled out of the tournament with an elbow injury.
MS Dhoni took over as captain after his departure. However, the team has dearly missed Gaikwad's batting services.
The batter, who has been CSK's run machine in the last few seasons, made a couple of fifties at number three this year.