The second part of the double header on the first Sunday of the IPL 2025 season sees the match dubbed the ‘El Clasico’ of the Indian Premier League taking place as the heavyweights of Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians meet in Chepauk.
These two teams are the biggest franchises in the league and have the best records in the history of the competition and there is no other option for either than to be competitive and reel in yet another title come the end of the campaign.
Chennai Super Kings
The Chennai Super Kings enter the tournament under the same question mark that they have the last few seasons which is whether they are going to be too old to get the job done. This is a team with a lot of experienced players in it but at the same time this is a youngsters format of the game and it will be interesting to see if those stalwarts can keep on performing to the level which is getting higher and higher by the season. If they can then mark Chennai down as title challengers.
The one thing any Chennai Super Kings side have done throughout the history of this competition is play the home conditions well. They recruit for the slower pitches in Chennai and therefore their home record is very good and that sets them up nicely for the remainder of the campaign. The Super Kings aren’t short of options in their team and it will be interesting if they nail the line up at the first time of asking or whether they warm into the competition.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians have been one of the best teams in the tournament throughout the history of the Indian Premier League but they have had a big downturn recently. They have finished bottom of the table in two of the last three campaigns and have only made the playoffs once since they last won the title in 2020 and that was when the tournament was in the UAE so there is no shortage of improvement required from this standout franchise.
That improvement might have to come later in the competition as well because Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah both miss this opening game. That affects the balance of the side massively, not least because it is two standout Indian players who are missing, but Pandya offers so much with the bat and the ball that he’ll be hard to directly replace. Mumbai look stronger with the bat on paper but in these conditions they could do with their bowlers to step up to the mark.
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Key Players
Rachin Ravindra is building a huge reputation in the game, largely because of what he is going in a New Zealand shirt but his performances at domestic level have been strong too and he’ll be looking for a big start to nail down a spot in the Chennai Super Kings side.
You get the feeling that if Mumbai Indians are going to return to the glories of four or five years ago then Suryakumar Yadav is going to need to have a big season. He has the ability to win any match in any situation and Mumbai need those qualities from him.
Betting
It would be no surprise if the Mumbai Indians need a game or two to get up to speed. They would have been hoping to have Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah as part of their plans and their absence means that they are weaker. This is a Mumbai franchise who rarely start seasons well anyway and this is probably the hardest opening game they have in terms of conditions which are completely opposite to the ones they would have recruited for at their home ground in Mumbai.
Chennai Super Kings usually hit the ground running and I expect them to do that here in favourable conditions. When you put these two bowling units next to each other, even though Mumbai have a couple of Chennai stalwarts in their ranks, the Super Kings one looks far superior and so if the Chennai top order can negotiate what might be a tricky new ball spell, which knowing how Deepak Chahar works should help them do, then the longer this one goes on the better I expect the Chennai chances to be. In these conditions, Chennai should be too good.
Tips
Back Chennai Super Kings to beat Mumbai Indians for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
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