MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings is all set to clash with Ajinkya Rahane’s Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 25 of IPL 2025, happening today at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk), Chennai, on April 11 (Friday). After a tough phase, MS Dhoni is making his big return as CSK’s captain, looking to break their four-match losing streak. On the other side, KKR comes off a heartbreaking 4-run loss against LSG, and they’ll be eyeing a comeback in this match.
KKR wins the toss and opts to bowl first. Rahane, after winning the toss, announced one major change for KKR. Moeen Ali replaces Spencer Johnson in the lineup.
As for CSK, there are two big changes. Rahul Tripathi comes in for the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Anshul Kamboj replaces Mukesh Chaudhary. Both teams will be looking to put in their best performance for a much-needed win.
Ajinkya Rahane’s words at the toss:
“We’ll bowl first. There were a lot of positives from the last game. We as a team played really well. It is about improving each game. This looks like a good wicket, won’t change much. We are batting deep, so that’s why we look to bowl first and chase things down. One change – Moeen Ali comes in for Spencer,” said Rahane.
MS Dhoni’s thoughts:
“We were looking to bat first as well. Quite a few occasions where we tried to chase it down and what we realised is that the wicket slows down a bit, so if you don’t get a good start, the middle order comes under pressure. He has fractured something on his elbow, so he is ruled out of the tournament. It is important, we have lost too many matches and now it is important to do the basics right – have dot balls, take our catches,” said Dhoni.
“A couple of games we lost by big margins, but otherwise it was about the small things – about one over going for 20 runs. Our batters are more authentic as batters, they won’t slog everything. They just need to back their instincts. It is important to start well, get boundaries early on and try to get a couple of early wickets as well. Couple of changes for us – Tripathi comes in for Ruturaj, and Anshul Kamboj in for Mukesh,” he added.
Playing XIs
Chennai Super Kings:
- Rachin Ravindra
- Devon Conway
- Rahul Tripathi
- Vijay Shankar
- Shivam Dube
- MS Dhoni(w/c)
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Noor Ahmad
- Anshul Kamboj
- Khaleel Ahmed
Kolkata Knight Riders:
- Quinton de Kock(w)
- Sunil Narine
- Ajinkya Rahane(c)
- Venkatesh Iyer
- Rinku Singh
- Moeen Ali
- Andre Russell
- Ramandeep Singh
- Harshit Rana
- Vaibhav Arora
- Varun Chakaravarthy
