Five-time champions and arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will square off in their opening game of the IPL 2025 campaign on March 23 at MA Chidambaram Stadium. The Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai had a horrid campaign in 2024, in which the team finished at the bottom of the table. Several off-the-field controversies hurt them severely and it impacted their overall campaign.
Nevertheless, the team management solved the differences and put together a power-packed team for the 2025 season. Their Indian core is stacked with options such as Rohit Sharma, Suryakumary Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik and Jasprit Bumrah and signed some quality overseas players such as Trent Boult, Will Jacks and Mitchell Santner among others.
Chennai, on the other hand, will depend heavily on their top order. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra form a formidable trio and Shivam Dube, if he manages to play as he did in the 2024 IPL, can be deadly. However, the middle order looks slightly on the weaker side. MS Dhoni’s batting position remains in doubt as it won’t be surprising if the legendary cricketer bats at number nine, below Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and Ravichandran Ashwin. Bowling nevertheless looks very sorted.
MA Chidambaram Pitch Report
The surface at MA Chidambaram tends the favour the spinners. Chasing is something that each team prefers in the IPL and the trend is very likely to continue. Anything above 170+ runs can be considered a good total on the surface and the dew is unlikely to play a role in the match.
CSK Squad
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Devon Conway, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Rachin Ravindra, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sam Curran, Shaik Rasheed, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjapneet Singh, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Nathan Ellis, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth, Shreyas Gopal
MI squad
Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Robin Minz, Naman Dhir, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Mitchell Santner, Raj Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Lizaad Williams, Arjun Tendulkar, Vignesh Puthur