IPL 2025: Why are Rachin Ravindra and Vijay Shankar not playing in today CSK vs SRH clash?

In the current IPL 2025 season, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) brought two unexpected changes to their playing eleven for the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 25. Two established players, Rachin Ravindra and Vijay Shankar, were not part of today's team.Let's see why they are not playing and what it indicates for CSK.

CSK vs SRH Match Details

• Date: April 25th, 2025
• Time:  7:30 PM IST
• Venue: Chennai

 Why Rachin Ravindra Is Not Playing
Rachin Ravindra, who began the season as an opener for CSK, has not been able to make a big impact with the bat. Though he is talented, his strike rate has been among the lowest of all openers this season. That implies that he was not scoring quickly enough, which is extremely crucial in T20 cricket.CSK management thought to do something new to inject some energy and aggression in the top order. So, Rachin was substituted with Dewald Brevis, who is a young aggressive player.The reason for the substitution was to provide the team with more opportunities to score quickly and apply pressure on the opposing team in the early stages of the game.

See Also: Abhishek Nayar gets back with the Knight Riders

 Why Vijay Shankar Is Not Playing
Vijay Shankar has also been excluded from the match today. In one of the earlier matches, he and MS Dhoni formed a long partnership but was too sluggish. Although they remained at the crease, they were not able to match the run rate that was necessary.That effort left one wondering whether he could close out matches under pressure. CSK's coach, Stephen Fleming, acknowledged that the middle order was not contributing enough, and it was hard to witness that slow pursuit unfold.To accelerate the scoring rate in the middle overs, Deepak Hooda replaced Shankar.