A loss for CSK against PBKS will knock them out of the playoffs

Once a fortress for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Chepauk has been breached by four teams in IPL 2025. Should that trend continue and Punjab Kings (PBKS) enjoy success on Wednesday night, it will mean that CSK will officially be out of the playoffs race. A lot will depend on the openers once more. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya bat with high intent and explosive power but there are vulnerabilities below them. Due to the fact that Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis have yet to score a significant amount in this IPL, PBKS' middle order has the second-lowest strike rate (130.75) and third-lowest average (24.17) out of all ten teams competing. They tried to remedy this by bumping Marco Jansen up to No. 5 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but it didn't work with the allrounder labouring to 3 off 7 balls. Even though Inglis has made a name for himself as a great spin bowler, PBKS might think about bringing back Marcus Stoinis, who made a remarkable hundred when he played for Chepauk in IPL 2024. CSK's batting is even worse, and their coach Stephen Fleming has attributed the team's woes to the mega auction in November, after the team has suffered multiple defeats. CSK has used up to 21 players this season, and with their slim chances of making the playoffs rapidly fading, they will see the remaining games as an opportunity to introduce additional new players and possibly prepare for the next auction. They've already taken steps towards the future by easing both Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis into the team and putting the likes of Vansh Bedi and Ramakrishna Ghosh in match-simulation training at their High Performance Academy on the outskirts of the city. Ayush Mhatre and Shaik Rasheed have added some freshness to CSK's stale batting approach. Mhatre, in particular, has bristled with attacking intent, regularly pumping the ball over the top in the powerplay. Mhatre will try to put on a show of his own at Chepauk, two days after his India Under-19 opening partner Vaibhav Suryavanshi impressed everyone. This season, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh have scored at a run rate of 10.69, ranking second among opening pairs behind Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma's 10.89. The last time PBKS ran into CSK, Arya announced his arrival in the IPL with a 39-ball hundred. Is this now Prabhsimran's turn to go big .