The IPL 2025 is just over 20 days away from the start, and every franchise will look to fine-tune their best combination out of the squad they have picked during the IPL 2025 auction. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), one of the most successful IPL franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history has had a decent outing in the IPL 2025 auction. They have picked a strong squad with all the potential to become a champion again. Today, we will do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of CSK IPL 2025 Squad. So let’s begin.
CSK IPL 2025 Squad and Retained Players
CSK has retained a total of 5 players before the IPL 2025 Auction. Those players are Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, and MS Dhoni. They have retained MS Dhoni as an uncapped player (in 4 crore INR only) and backed Ruturaj as their captain.
In the IPL 2025 auction, there are some interesting buys from Chennai Super Kings. They have got R Ashwin and Noor Ahmed in their side who can be effective in the middle overs. CSK have also brought back Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, along with English all-rounder Sam Curran.
Looking at the local talent in the CSK IPL 2025 Squad, they have Shaik Rasheed, Anshul Kamboj, and Gurjapneet Singh in the team.
CSK IPL 2025 Squad:-
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Rachin Ravindra, R. Ashwin, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rasheed, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.
Now let’s do a SWOT Analysis of the CSK IPL 2025 Squad.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Spinners Can Control the Game in Middle Overs
First things first, CSK’s strength lies in their spin bowling. Over the years, we have seen them exploiting the home conditions in Chennai where the pitch is generally on the slower side. The wicket helps the spinners and CSK has quite a few quality spinners in the squad.
CSK has R Ashwin, Noor Ahmed, and Ravindra Jadeja along with Shreyas Gopal, who can control the game in the middle overs. We can expect at least three out of the four to play most of the games in IPL 2025.
A Strong Top-order in the Batting
CSK has a very strong top order in the batting line-up. They have their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad who has been a consistent performer for the franchise over the years. The franchise has also roped in the two Kiwi top-order batters, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. Both batters have had a great outing in the recent past and can be dangerous at the top.
The MS Dhoni Factor
One of their major strength for CSK is MS Dhoni’s leadership. Although the former CSK captain has passed the baton to Gaikwad, he is still a leader of the group. His experience is vital for the team and he shares a lot of his insights to help Gaikwad.
Dhoni’s leadership and game awareness is one of the major strengths in CSK’s squad.
ALSO READ: Rajasthan Royals IPL 2025 Squad SWOT Analysis, Playing XI, and More
Weakness
Inexperienced Fast-bowling Unit
CSK used to have wicket-taking fast bowlers like DJ Bravo, and Deepak Chahar, who has loads of experience. They have played with different sets of fast bowlers like Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Mukesh Choudhary, Chris Jordon, Sam Curran, etc over the years. But now, they have some inexperience in their fast-bowling group.
They do have Pathirana who did well last season, but other than him, CSK has to rely on local talent. Nathan Ellis didn’t have much experience and they have Kamboj, Rasheed, and Choudhary in the team who didn’t play many games in the IPL.
Too Much Dependency on the Top-order in Batting
CSK’s batting lineup is a top-heavy side, with a few players who are in-form in the middle order. Deepak Hooda and Shivam Dube haven’t made a huge impact in the last few months in T20 cricket. The same is the case with Sam Curran and Rahul Tripathi. MS Dhoni only plays in the IPL, and Ravindra Jadeja’s batting prowess in T20s hasn’t been impressive in the last two years or so.
Opportunities
Ruturaj Gaikwad has the opportunity to establish himself as a long-term CSK captain. He led the team from the front last year by scoring runs and did a decent job in the captaincy. If CSK could have won that virtual knockout against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) last year, they could see themselves in the top 4.
As far as a team, CSK has the opportunity to become the most successful franchise in IPL history. They have won 5 IPL titles, same the number as Mumbai Indians (MI). If they win the title this season, they will become the first team to win 6 IPL titles.
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Threats
The threat lies in the weakness we have discussed above. MS Dhoni only plays in the IPL, so he might not be in touch with his batting and keeping. Also, CSK’s core group, in which players like Suresh Raina, DJ Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Ambati Rayudu, etc used to play, has gone now. They are going through a transition period and it might take some time to build a core group again.
CSK Record and Stats
TOTAL MATCHES | WON | LOSS | NO RESULT | WIN % |
226 | 131 | 91 | 3 | 57.96 % |
Highest Score
246/5 against Rajasthan Royals on 14 May 2010 in Chennai
Lowest Total
79 against MI ON 5 May 2013 in Mumbai
Most Runs
Suresh Raina – 4687 runs in 171 innings
Most Wickets
DJ Bravo – 10 wickets in 113 innings
CONCLUSION
So this is the SWOT Analysis of CSK IPL 2025 Squad. We have also seen some IPL Records and Stats by CSK in the IPL. They have a decent squad with a lot of bases covered. They can win the title again and become the most successful franchise with this team.
What do you think? Will CSK be able to add one more trophy in their cabinet? Comment your predictions below.
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