It’s been a dire season for Chennai Super Kings. In IPL 2025, they’ve lost games at home to RCB, DC and most recently SRH – each of whom had almost never succeeded in beating the five-time champions when playing at Chepauk. But after playing nine games, CSK have only four points, a heavily negative net run-rate, and practically no hope of making the playoffs. After their latest defeat, by five wickets to SRH on Friday (April 25), coach Stephen Fleming said there would be a lot of “soul searching” and it started with him, as the man on top. Fleming also said that the team was left feeling very empty especially because they couldn’t live up to the expectations of their fans, who have been thronging the stadiums at home and away.
“It certainly starts with me at the top”
Over the years, CSK have always shown great faith and loyalty in the personnel they already have. They don’t make too many changes in minor auctions, and even in the mega-auctions, they try and buy back those who have played for them. It has served them well so far, but Fleming admitted that perhaps they erred in the 2025 mega-auction.
“We have been looking over that in detail. Just around our style of play, also looking at how the game is evolving, and it’s not easy,” Fleming reflected. “Other teams have got better, and that’s the point of the auction. But we just haven’t been able to get it right.
“So you take responsibility from the top down, and then you just ask a little bit more of the players. But it’s also not a perfect science. The auction is a very fluid beast. It’s like buying 25 houses, so you come away at the end of it, mentally and sometimes physically exhausted. And to be fair, I still think we’ve got a good squad. We’re not far away. A couple of key injuries, just a bit of a lack of form, and we’ve just struggled really to nail a game plan. Chopped and changed too much. But I think that was trying to look for something that perhaps we felt wasn’t there. So, yeah, there’s a lot of responsibility and soul-searching, and it certainly starts with me at the top. 100 percent.”
‘Not rewarding fans with performances weighs heavily on the group’
It’s been a common sight for the last several years to have the stands dominated by CSK yellow, even during away games. And in their home matches, it’s a sea of yellow. The CSK fans have generally had plenty of reason to cheer over the years, but in 2025, the team is sitting at the bottom of the points table, and looks likely to stay there.
“We’re well aware of the support, and it’s not just at home,” Fleming acknowledged. “It extends throughout India. We understand the effect MS Dhoni has with our support.
“When we see the amount of yellow that turn up game after game… there is a responsibility that we feel, and it’s a heavy one. And to not reward that with performances weighs very heavy on the group. When they come to play for Chennai, one of the things they look forward to is being in yellow in front of a yellow crowd. And to not perform up to our expectations, but more importantly the fans’ expectations, leaves us very empty.”
The unwanted bonus
The silver lining in CSK’s run of defeats is that they’ve been able to blood some new talent. Two of those – Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis – were injury replacements. They were both easily the best batters against SRH, hitting 30 off 19 and 42 off 25 respectively. While Fleming acknowledged that no team would want to be in a position where they are essentially planning for the next season by blooding young players, he heaped praise on the dynamic duo.
“I thought Brevis was excellent today. Mhatre has been refreshing,” he said. “We’re giving guys opportunities, and that is something that often doesn’t come along in the IPL, and you don’t want it to come along. It’s an unwanted bonus. We’ll work very hard on every game to try and find some more answers for next year, and that includes the whole squad.”
