IPL 2025: Sunrisers Hyderabad win toss, opt to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings

Sunrisers Hyderabad win toss, opt to bowl first against the Chennai Super Kings.

On the Bells Road and Wallajah Road that run adjacent to the MA Chidambaram Stadium, some unfamiliar scenes are unfolding at the conclusion of every Chennai Super Kings fixture here this season. Every time YouTubers and vloggers thrust their microphones in front of fans, it has invariably led to meltdowns that have gone viral by the next morning.

With the franchise in the middle of their worst-run ever, not even MS Dhoni – Thala himself – has been spared. It has been that sort of a season for Chennai and its loyal fan base. While the common mood over the last few seasons has been to have the ‘Thala dharshan’, this season, even some of the diehards have started to question whether he has carried on longer than he should have. The kind of emotional investment Chennai and Tamil Nadu have in their franchise is unparalleled. Why this cricketing kolaveri over CSK?

The temperature is expected to be 37 degrees Celsius on Friday, according to the Accuweather app. However, a thing of relief for the players is that it drops down to 28 degrees Celsius in the evening.

The pitch in Chennai this season, though, has helped spinners. For the clash between Hyderabad and Chennai, the surface might be similar. The team winning the toss might look to bat first and put runs on the board.

April 26: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings at 7:30 PM in Kolkata

April 27: Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants at 3:30 PM in Mumbai

April 27: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru at 7:30 PM in Delhi

April 28: Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans at 7:30 PM in Jaipur

April 29: Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders at 7:30 PM in Delhi

April 30: Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings at 7:30 PM in Chennai

May 1: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians at 7:30 PM in Jaipur

May 2: Gujarat Titans vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at 7:30 PM in Ahmedabad

vs Gujarat Titans (2 May)

vs Delhi Capitals (5 May)

vs Kolkata Knight Riders (10 May)

vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (13 May)

vs Lucknow Super Giants (18 May)

Apr 30 at 7.30 pm vs Punjab Kings in Chennai

May 3 at 7.30 pm vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Bengaluru

May 7 at 7.30 pm vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata

May 12 at 7.30 pm vs Rajasthan Royals in Chennai

May 18 at 3.30 pm vs Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad

Despite hitting the most sixes in the Powerplay, Rajasthan Royals find themselves in the pits with the bat. Meanwhile, CSK and SRH haven't been able to effect to big hits early on either, and also share a similar fate at the bottom of the pool. The season has exemplified that the middle-ground is perhaps the best with stability flowing through the innings.

Most sixes in IPL 2025 Powerplay:

RR - 37.

KKR - 29.

MI - 26.

PBKS - 25.

LSG - 23.

RCB - 21.

GT - 17.

DC - 15.

SRH - 12.

CSK - 5.

The temperature is expected to be around 37 degrees Celsius in Chennai today, according to the Accuweather app. However, it would be a relief for the players that it  is expected to drop down to 28 degrees Celsius in the evening.

It looks like Nitish Kumar Reddy isn't having the IPL season many expected. After seven matches, his stats tell a story of struggle: just 131 runs at an average of 21.83 and a strike rate of only 113.91, without a single half-century to his name. We saw glimpses of his potential early on, but as the Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting unit as a whole started to falter, his form seemed to dip as well.

This season, when the team has lost early wickets, Nitish has often become overly cautious while trying to steady the innings. His knocks against the Mumbai Indians (19 runs off 21 balls) and the Gujarat Titans (31 runs off 34 balls) lacked his usual attacking flair, though he was tasked with the responsibility of guiding SRH to a respectable total. It seems his more restrained approach in the middle overs has coincided with a change in SRH's strategy. Instead of their earlier ultra-aggressive style, they now seem to be focusing on adapting to the match conditions, perhaps after experiencing some batting collapses early in the tournament. Read More from Tanishq Vaddi's analysis

Matches played: 75

Won: 51

Lost: 23

Tied: 1

Highest score: 246/5 vs Rajasthan Royals (April 2010)

Lowest score: 103/9 vs Kolkata Knight Riders (April 2025)

• Matches played: 5
• CSK won: 5
• SRH won: 0
• Last result: CSK won by 78 runs (April 2024)

• Matches played: 21
• CSK won: 15
• SRH won: 6
• Last result: CSK won by 78 runs (April 2024)

MS Dhoni is the leading run-scorer for CSK against SRH among active players, with 430 runs in the IPL.

Ravindra Jadeja leads the wicket charts for CSK against SRH among active players, with 9 wickets.

Ruturaj Gaikwad holds the highest individual score among active CSK players against SRH, scoring 99 off 57 balls in IPL 2022.

Gaikwad and Devon Conway’s 182-run stand in IPL 2022 at Pune remains the highest partnership against SRH in IPL history.

Gaikwad also shares the record for the most Player of the Match awards against SRH in the IPL, with three to his name.

The best-ever batting performance by a CSK player against SRH remains Shane Watson’s unbeaten 117 off 57 balls in the IPL 2018 final.

Tushar Deshpande’s 4 for 24 in IPL 2024 stands as the best bowling performance by a CSK player against SRH.

Notably, CSK have never lost to SRH at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, maintaining a perfect record at home.

Stephen Fleming has asked his top order to perform against the Sunrisers Hyderabad as the Chennai Super Kings make an audacious bid to qualify for the IPL playoffs, despite currently languishing in bottom spot with four points from eight games.  

“If you look at the top teams at the moment, the top three batters are dominating the games and then everything else falls into place. So, we need to run production from the top to go well. And that will then put players in the right position to be able to perform their role that they have been designed for,” Fleming said before the game against SRH on Friday at Chennai.

MS Dhoni is set for a milestone 400th T20 match appearance in Chennai tonight. Here's a look at his career overalls and the list of players who have got to the feat before Dhoni: READ MORE

Chennai Super Kings handed young Ayush Mhatre a debut against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in CSK’s last IPL game. There the 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre, on his homecoming at the Wankhede Stadium, scored a quickfire 32 runs off 15 balls before falling to Deepak Chahar. The teenager was called in as a late injury replacement for Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. He was added to the Playing XI against Mumbai instead of Rahul Tripathi.

CSK coach Stepehen Fleming was impressed by what he saw at the Wankhede.  

“Mhatre had an opportunity in the last game and he looked very good and that excites us as we have one eye to the future,” he said before adding: “We are exploring a lot of things at the moment to see whether there are gains within the side. So, we think there are areas that we can explore with our players where they haven't perhaps conquered it in the past”

Chennai Super Kings are almost at the exit door of IPL 2025 after being unable to win more than two games in eight so far this season. CSK find themselves moored to the bottom of the IPL standings. But Chennai coach Stephen Fleming has said they can pull off an unbelievable turnaround.

"We're still hopeful of winning 6 out of 6, and some will giggle at that, but RCB set a blueprint for that the year before. So while there's still a chance, we have one eye on making sure that we think the best players for this game coming up will play, but we're also aware that if it doesn't work out, that we've got to make the most of what has been a poor season,” said Fleming before adding: “And the work we did a couple of times, we were in this position in the past set us up to win the title the following year. So we're certainly aware of what needs to be done and how we can go about it." 

Chennai Super Kings are in danger of missing out of a playoffs spot this IPL — not to mention they could also end the season dead last if things don’t change drastically for the five time champions. But CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan has said in an interview that the five-time champions never press the panic button. He in fact tried to say that there was nothing much to worry about, despite the run of results from CSK where they have won just two of their eight games in IPL 2025.  

"We have not been performing up to the mark. We are trying to improve and we will try to do well in the next few games. We have never pressed the panic button in our franchise. It is not like that, it is just a game," Viswanathan told news agency PTI.

Asked about Dhoni weaving his magic as captain for the team after taking over captaincy from the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad, Viswanathan said: "See, it's not the question of anybody. It's a question that the team should do well and not just one individual. We don't talk to the team management. Dhoni will do what is right for the team. What we are expecting as administrators is good performance by the team and we don't criticize our team at all."

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Shaik Rasheed, Rachin Ravindra, Ayush Mhatre, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anshul Kamboj, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sam Curran, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Gopal, Devon Conway, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Dewald Brevis, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga, Abhinav Manohar, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Sachin Baby, Wiaan Mulder, Kamindu Mendis, Atharva Taide, Simarjeet Singh, Smaran Ravichandran

It is a bottom-of-the-table clash in Chennai today and the team that ends up on the losing side could bid their Playoffs hopes goodbye with a month to go for the IPL 2025 final. It has been contrasting set-ups in terms of team personnel for both CSK and SRH. However, the results have played out quite similarly on the field.