CHENNAI: When the 2025 Indian Premier League season began, neither Chennai Super Kings nor Sunrisers Hyderabad would have thought they would be where they are at the moment. The winners of 2023 and finalists of 2024 editions are lingering at the bottom of the table.
And on Friday, when they go toe-to-toe against each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, they know there will be one team left standing. That the one who gets across the line will keep their campaign alive while the other will be all but eliminated from the season.
With just two wins from eight games, both teams cannot afford to lose from hereon. They have not thrown in the towel yet and they are looking to replicate what Royal Challengers Bengaluru achieved last year. "Well we're still hopeful of winning six out of six and some will giggle at that but RCB set a blueprint for that the year before. So while there's still a chance, we have one eye on making sure that we think the best players for this game coming up will play," CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said.
"But we're also aware that if it doesn't work out that we've got to make the most of what has been a poor season. And the work we did a couple of times we were in this position in the past set us up, I think to win the title the following year. So we're certainly aware of what needs to be done and how we can go about it and when that time comes we will make sure there's no stone left unturned."
On paper, these two teams have the most contrasting approaches and templates, but this season they have a common problem — lack of runs from top-order. SRH's 2024 season was defined by the way Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma batted and CSK's top three, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, have always set the tone. This season, neither teams have gotten good starts consistently. Fleming admitted as much ahead of the match on Thursday.
"Our major problem has been possibly the run production at the top. So when that happens it just puts players into a different role or a different mindset and a different position. We need run production from the top to go well and that will then put players in the right position to be able to perform their role that they've been designed for and enable us to then capitalise on the strengths that some of our players have,'' he said.
Come Friday, Fleming will be hoping that it will be changed and they bring their A game to the table. For it is not just one game, but the reputation and legacy of the franchise is at stake. In their 16 years of IPL, only twice CSK have failed to make the play-off and in the subsequent years they have come back to win the title. It seems far from reality at the moment, but their first step would be winning on Friday.
