Follow UsThe writing was on the wall, with Ravichandran Ashwin averaging 39.6 with the ball and taking just one wicket in the powerplay phase, where his economy rate reads 15. Given how CSK’s bowling has struggled in the powerplay, it was necessary to ring in the changes, which is why Anshul Kamboj was brought into the playing XI against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 14 (Monday)
Not only that, but the inclusion of Jamie Overton gave MS Dhoni another pace bowling option to use in the powerplay if the pitch had assisted pace bowling. In Ashwin’s absence, CSK put on a bowling show, reducing the in-form LSG batting unit to 166/7, a score that they chased down with three balls to spare.
In the post-match presentation, CSK’s skipper Dhoni revealed why they had to drop Ashwin in order to bring about a much-needed balance to the bowling outfit.
“We need more bowlers in the first six, we were putting too much pressure on Ash to bowl two overs in the first six, so we made changes to have more bowlers in the first six; this looks like a better attack. We have done well as a bowling unit, but we can do better as a batting unit,” Dhoni explained in the post-match presentation.
However, CSK’s batting still left a lot of room for improvement, as they lost 4 wickets for just 37 runs in the tricky middle-over phase, leaving 56 runs to chase in the final five overs. It was still a big area of concern for the five-time IPL champions.
"We keep losing wickets at the wrong time to some extent. One of the reasons could be that the Chennai wicket is slightly on the slower side. When we have played away from home, the batting unit has done slightly better. Maybe we need to play on wickets that are slightly better so that it'll give the batters confidence to play their shots. You don't want to play timid cricket," he said.
It ultimately resulted in CSK dropping their overseas opener, Devon Conway, to bring in the 20-year-old Shaik Rasheed into the setup. The classy right-handed batter had been with the CSK setup for the past three years and was yet to get an opportunity.
However, in his first-ever IPL clash, the Guntur-born cricketer smashed a 22-ball 37, an innings laced with six boundaries. Dhoni couldn’t help but laud the youngster, adding that he has the ability to ‘dominate’ with authentic shots.
"Rasheed batted really well today. He has been with us for a few years, and we have seen improvement. This year, he has been batting really well in the nets. We needed a change in the batting order, and he batted really well, but it's just the start. He has the ability to dominate with authentic shots, not like some other batters floating around."
Nothing has changed for CSK, however, as they remain at the bottom of the IPL 2025 table, with a lower net run rate than SRH.