IPL 2025: Fleming tears into the team performance as CSK drop to a new low

IPL 2020 marked the first time when Chennai Super Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs. It was a hard blow for the team and the huge fanbase to endure that the three-time winners fumbled qualification. And yet, what has happened in IPL 2025 is even more agonising to witness. The team entered the season as five-time champions, with the fans awaiting a comeback after missing qualification last year. However, the 'Comeback Super Kings', as famously known, fell even lower than all their previous setbacks collectively. Now, with only one match left to play in the campaign, there remains no way for CSK to leave the bottom spot on the IPL 2025 points table. The team head coach, meanwhile, has termed their position fitting to the level of play that Chennai Super Kings have shown this year.

The never-ending woes of Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025

Nothing went CSK's way this year, except the campaign opener against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at home. Since then, neither have they experienced any 'home advantage', nor has the team kept up their performance on par with the reputation of being five-time champions. Injuries, half-cooked squad, unsettled batting order, impactless bowling attack, you name it, and the chances are high that CSK has suffered the issue in IPL 2025.

While injuries are something beyond the control of management, it's for the players to improve their performance in the field and show up with the bat as the situation requires. Changing too many players in a single position is something you'd rarely relate to CSK. However, CSK, until their elimination from the IPL 2025 playoffs, were still finding that one opening combination who'd make a positive impact.

The middle remained as absent, with the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, and Vijay Shankar consistently failing.  Shivam Dube rarely showed his true potential, as he fell victim to an eluding form.  Meanwhile, MS Dhoni, the senior-most prospect, started out positively, even returning to the captaincy post after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out with an elbow fracture. However, his ability to finish games only diminished as the season progressed. 

In the bowling department, Khaleel Ahmed and Noor Ahmad carried most of the load, especially in the initial phase. However, stuck with a team that dropped sitters around the field and misfielded crucial runs, their efficiency deteriorated. Moreover, to add to the woes, Matheesha Pathirana bowled too many wides for his bowling to prove lethal. Credit where it's due, Pathirana remained frugal in the death overs, saving crucial runs at the end. However, his overall impact was counted low as he leaked those runs as extras.

Among the very few things that have gone right for Chennai Super Kings were the injury replacements. Young Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre filled in as an injury replacement for skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. Subsequently, CSK called up 'Baby AB', Dewald Brevis, to cover for the absence of Gurjapneet Singh. Mhatre brought the fire that was missing in the CSK opening order, suitable for the modern T20 setup.

Dewald Brevis, meanwhile, single-handedly stabilised the middle order, going big while also remaining cautious. However, CSK is already out of the IPL 2025 playoffs. Despite the best efforts of the young lot, especially Mhatre and Brevis, the team, for the first time in IPL history, would finish the season at the bottom of the points table.

Stephen Fleming terms the bottom-of-table-finish fitting for CSK

After their latest defeat in the CSK vs RR IPL 2025 match in the national capital, Stephen Fleming came down hard on the team. In the earlier phase of the season, it was only Fleming who shot back at a reporter for questioning their performance. “We'll see at the end of the season,” an infuriated Fleming had shot in the press conference. Now, as the end has nearly arrived, Fleming believes that perhaps the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table is all that this CSK team deserves.

“No, we don't obviously like being down here, but it's not a motivation. We wanted just a good performance. We're trying to string some performances together. The aim was two good performances (in the last two matches). Now it'll be one good one to finish. It's probably fitting that we're at the bottom. We've played that type of cricket, so you can't hide away from it,” Fleming said after the six-wicket defeat in the CSK vs RR match.

Chennai Super Kings have managed only 6 points in 13 matches this season. Only one fixture remains before the former champions bow out of IPL 2025. Meanwhile, their last match of the campaign brings them across the table-toppers Gujarat Titans. Even if the team manages to pull off the win in the GT vs CSK match, the chances are high for them to still end at the bottom, with the NRR lagging miles behind Rajasthan Royals. While CSK has already started looking at the next season, the aim would be to end IPL 2025 on whatever little high they could claim with a win in Ahmedabad.