Chennai Super Kings succumbed to their sixth defeat in the ongoing IPL 2025 season on Sunday, as they remain at the bottom of the points table
Chennai Super Kings, on Sunday, succumbed to their sixth defeat in the ongoing IPL 2025 season after losing by nine wickets against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at Wankhede. The defeat kept Chennai in the bottom-most position in the points table, as they now stand on the verge of becoming the first team to suffer elimination from the race to make the playoffs.
The loss also put Chennai’s planning for the season under scrutiny, with former CSK players and India legends, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, questioning their auction strategy.
Speaking on air during Chennai’s match against Mumbai, former vice-captain Raina reckoned the five-time champions had lost half the battle at the auction table last November after they failed to go after options like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, who were all up for grabs.
“Mujhe lagta hai kahin na kahin inse (CSK) auction acha nahi hua hai. Auction main itne talented players, itne youngsters the. Kaha hai woh players? Aap itna paisa leke jaate ho auction ke liye. Aapne Rishabh Pant ko chhoda, Shreyas Iyer ko chhoda, KL Rahul ko chhoda. CSK team ko kabhi aise nahi dekha struggle karte hue(I feel somewhere they did not have a good auction. There were so many talented players and youngsters in the auction. Where are they? You went to the auction with so much money but left Pant, Iyer and Rahul. I have never seen CSK struggle like this),” Raina said.
Harbhajan, who was present in the commentary box as well, echoed Raina’s thought as he blamed Chennai’s talent scouts for the debacle this season.
“CSK bohot badi team rahi hai. Jab yeh auction main gaye, inke paas woh option tha unn players ko le sakte the. Yuvaon main bhi waise yuva dikhe nahi jo game-changing wali innings khel sake. Thoda sa jo inke talent pool ko jo hunt karte hai unko bhi bitha ke puchhna chahiye ki bhai kya apne hume information di thi jiske chalte humne yeh logon ko select kiya tha(CSK is a big tam. They had the options to pick those players in the auction. Even among the youngsters, they did not turn out to be game-changers. The talent scouts should be questioned about their preferences, because the selection was based on that),” Harbhajan said.
Chennai will next travel home to host Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, followed by Punjab Kings on April 30. For CSK to keep their playoffs hope alive, the need to win all their remaining games, which will leave them with 16 points at the end of the league stage. They also need to ensure wins by superior margins to improve on their net run rate.
