IPL-2025: Chennai Super Kings to face Punjab Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai

Despite scoring a 39-ball hundred, his first in the IPL, something still felt amiss for Priyansh Arya. “I wanted to talk to Dhoni sir, but he had left the ground by that time,” the 24-year-old confessed during a media roundtable, a couple of days after helping Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings by 18 runs in Mullanpur.

Fortunately for Arya, he’s got a second shot at it. PBKS are in Chennai for the reverse fixture, a city where it’s hard to miss Dhoni. In less than two days since arriving, Yuzvendra Chahal has already met Dhoni and even secured one of his bats, a moment captured in a PBKS video where Arya is heard joking that another cricketer from Haryana will soon be laying claim to it.

Arya might not have met Dhoni just yet, but he will hope to catch a few minutes with him after the match. Only, he can’t be sure yet if it will be the right time to approach him. If CSK lose this one, they’ll be out of PlayOff contention, missing the knockouts for two consecutive seasons for the first time.

CSK, to their credit, have lately made efforts to remodel their rigid and time-tested approach, opening up their hearts and their Playing XIs to the next generation. They have already used 21 players this season across nine games, fielded their youngest team since 2009 in their last match, including the second-youngest opening pair in IPL history and the youngest ever for CSK across all wickets. Still, a lot more is needed to get the wins flowing.

PBKS, on the other hand, could use an extra bat themselves. Their middle order has largely gone untested, and only one point in last two matches has meant that they find themselves back in the mid-table muddle, from where they would be desperate to break away and push into top-four.