Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are on the verge of exit from the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after their seventh loss of the season in nine games. CSK were defeated by SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday which put them in the danger of getting eliminated from the play-off race even with a little less than half of the season still pending. (Match Blog | Full Coverage | Points Table)
Their woes just keep increasing and it has been a season to forget for them so far. The batting line-up has totally refused to perform. CSK have only one player, an out-of-form Shivam Dube at 15th place, in the list of top 30 run scorers this season. It means that even with their bowlers doing relatively well, CSK just have not been able to either put up par scores or chase above par totals.
But is there still a way? Can CSK still weave some magic and make a miraculous entry into the top four. Let us take a look.
Can CSK Still Qualify For IPL 2025 Play-offs?
With five matches remaining and just four points in their kitty, CSK can now only reach 14 points at max even if they win all their next league games. Since IPL was expanded to 10 teams, only last season was the one where a team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with 14 points made it to the play-offs. However, they were helped by some washouts and a few other results going their way. The Net Run Rate will also come into play where CSK are doing really poorly. In fact, no team this season has a Net Run Rate as bad as CSK's and that reflects in their bottom-most position in the standings.
However, all is still not lost as RCB showed last year. RCB won six straight games to get into the play-offs. CSK have to win a less if they want to stay alive. Another loss would render even the calculators of no use.
The scenario is clear: win all games and win them with decent margins.
It is also important to note that when RCB made it to the play-offs with six straight wins, the signs of their improvement were visible even in their losses. This is not the case with CSK. They are still not sure of their best playing XI and are consistently chopping and changing, something not associated with CSK. With a lot of youngsters being blooded into the side, signs are that MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming know it is over and are already looking ahead for the next seasons.
