Chennai Super Kings got off to a winning start in IPL 2025 with a win over the Mumbai Indians in Chennai on Sunday, March 23, 2025.
Here are the batters who brought the crowds to their feet at Chepauk on Sunday night...
Ruturaj Gaikwad
The CSK captain will not compromise on the beauty of batting even when he goes hammer and tongs.
When he won the toss and elected to field, his bowlers did well to restrict MI to 155 for 9.
CSK lost opener Rahul Tripathi early in the innings and out came Rutu.
The skipper started his innings with an immaculate cover drive off just the second ball he faced. Next ball he came down the track but just opened the bat face and played it through the covers for another four.
He stepped on the gas in no time and seemed in a hurry to take his team home. Gaikwad found the boundaries with ease and refrained from any rash shots.
Gaikwad took a fancy to former CSK teammate Mitch Santner, whom he clobbered for a six and two fours in an over.
He then sent a Will Jacks delivery for a maximum before getting to his 50 off just 22 balls -- his fastest IPL half-ton -- in just the 7th over.
It seemed like Rutu was batting on a different pitch than his MI counterparts, his innings decorated with 2 fours and 4 sixes.
He was out the next over for 53 but he loves batting at Chepauk -- in 6 innings in the IPL before Sunday night, he registered three 50s, one century, a 46 not out and 15.
Rachin Ravindra
Patience and maturity are the two adjectives that define Rachin the batter. And it was no different on Sunday when he came out to open the batting.
He started off well but played second fiddle when Gaikwad took control.
The 25 year old happily rotated the strike and hit the odd boundary when a bad ball came his way. But even as wickets kept falling around him he kept his composure.
There was no rush of blood. He played the waiting game and at the very end, he and Ravindra Jadeja dealt in singles and twos and when 21 were needed off 18, Rachin decided it was time and sent Vignesh Puthur's deliveries for two huge sixes before bringing up the winning runs in the final over with another six.
The pitch was a tad slow and not the best for scoring yet Rachin hit four biggies in his 45-ball 65.
Deepak Chahar
MI lost a couple of quick wickets which brought Tilak Varma to the crease.
Tilak clobbered the bowling and hit 2 fours and 2 sixes during his 25-ball 31. He stitched a 51-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav (29 off 26) but he could not sustain the innings and was dismissed just after SKY.
With MI tottering at 118 for 7 in the 17th over, Chahar came out to bat and took to the CSK attack. He smashed Khaleel Ahmed for a four and a six in the 19th over. In the final over he smacked Nathan Ellis for a six and a four to ensure MI go past the 150-run mark.
Chahar came out with a purpose and ran the ones and twos hard. His late cameo took MI to a face-saving total albeit still about 20 runs below par.
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