Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn't played since April 8. Photo: BCCI
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are taking on Gujarat Titans (GT) in their last league stage match of IPL 2025 in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 25). The Yellow Army has already crashed out of the league stage while GT are at the top spot. A win here will see GT finish at the top while a defeat can impact their chances of finishing in the top 2.
MS Dhoni is leading CSK in their last league game. He has been doing captaincy for over a month in Ruturaj Gaikwad's absence. Ruturaj has not played for CSK since April 8. He started the season as the captain but and led the team in 5 matches before being ruled out.
Why Ruturaj Gaikwad did not play for CSK after April 8?
Ruturaj Gaikwad did not play for CSK after April 8 due an elbow injury. The CSK opener was ruled out for few weeks. He wasn't fit to take part in the second half of the tournament either.
Though Ruturaj is likely to get fit soon as he has been named in the India A squad for the unofficial Test series against England Lions. He isn't part of the Test team. Ruturaj, who first made it to the Test team in 2023, is still uncapped in Test cricket.
CSK set to finish at the last spot
With 3 wins from 13 matches, CSK are at the last spot in the IPL 2025 points table and they are set to finish at that position. A win over Gujarat Titans (GT) will see them finish with the same number of points as Rajasthan Royals (RR) but they have a below-par NRR.
CSK have an NRR of -1.030 and it will be tough for them to surpass RR's NRR of -0.549. This is the first time in IPL's history that CSK have crashed out of the league stage of the tournament in back-to-back seasons.
