IPL 2025 | 'When we played in Chennai...,' former player tags current squad as 'weakest CSK team'

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Suresh Raina has hit out at his former franchise for the lackluster performance in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. CSK are languishing at the bottom of the points table with just two wins in eight games and six losses to go with.

"This is the weakest CSK team, definitely. I think there's no intent. The hunger to win is not there. Not to disrespect anyone, but the brand that CSK is known for, that's not there now," Raina said in a chat with former India teammate Harbhajan Singh while talking on his Instagram.

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"Look at how local players who have played in TNPL are doing. B Sai Sudharsan is doing well, he is playing for Gujarat Titans. R Sai Kishore and Shahrukh Khan are also playing for GT. You have to bring local players," he said.

"When we were winning, we had the likes of Murali Vijay, L Balaji, S Badrinath, myself, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. When you don't bring local flavour, it doesn't work," Raina added.

The former player also pointed out that CSK are playing a lot of dot balls and are doing badly in terms of strike rotation. He suggested the franchise players to show intent and play basic cricket like them.

"When we played in Chennai, we were not playing dot balls. Strike rotation wins matches. We played proper basic cricket. In the first six overs, we showed intent. And in the death, there were the likes of MS Dhoni and Albie Morkel. They used to play cameos. Because of all these, we were winning," Raina said.

CSK are also without their regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad who is out for the season due to injury after playing first few matches. MS Dhoni, under whom CSK won five IPL titles, is at helm for now but failing to recreate his magic.