Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have experienced an unusual season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Known for their five title wins and 12 playoff appearances, their approach has consistently relied on a core group of seasoned players adept at handling the ebbs and flows of T20 cricket. Even amidst their triumphant runs, CSK’s reliance on experience has been a topic of debate. As they face a challenging season, with more focus on their younger players, speculation arose about a potential strategy shift. However, coach Stephen Fleming is clear there’s no change in their approach.
“No, I don’t care how old players are,” Fleming asserted ahead of CSK’s match against Rajasthan Royals in Delhi. “I do like experience though, experience has served us really well over the proud years that we’ve had. It hasn’t worked out quite well for us this year and that could be a bit of form. It can be strategy, it can be a number of things, that just don’t quite work out. The competition is very even, so the fact that we’ve been so consistent over a number of years, to have a poor year has sort of shaken everybody, but it’s understandable given that, the excellence in which the franchises are operating in.”
CSK’s struggles began early this season. Their decisions in last November’s auction, such as re-signing R Ashwin, who has performed well for them in the past, haven’t delivered the expected success. Attempts to reinvigorate the performances of Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, or Vijay Shankar, who showed promise like Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane in previous seasons, fell short. The widespread underperformance by seasoned IPL players caught CSK off guard, yet it hasn’t prompted a comprehensive reassessment of their T20 strategy.
“The challenge for us is making sure out of this that we do go over everything that we are doing [now] and have done in the past to make sure we are keeping up with the philosophies [of the time], but also identifying talent,” Fleming noted. “It’s one thing to say we want a team full of young players, but you’ve got to find them. So it’s identifying talent and making sure they fit in. To the experience which I’ll say again, I do like [it] and you have a look at the, the top run-scores and wicket-takers and you see there’s a fair bit of experience there, but what it’s sprinkled with is some amazing performances by young players who are playing sort of fearless cricket.”
This season has showcased the emergence of promising players. B Sai Sudharsan, still early in his IPL career, holds the Orange Cap for top run-scorer, and Prasidh Krishna, who missed the last two IPLs, claims the Purple Cap for leading wicket-taker. Punjab Kings’ opening pair, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, have led their team to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. Newcomer Digvesh Rathi has also impressed with his performance.
Fleming acknowledges these developments and sees potential in new recruits like Ayush Mhatre, Noor Ahmad, and Dewald Brevis. However, he isn’t ready to abandon CSK’s established methodology.
