'Both teams have shown a stubbornness to change the batting order' - Sunil Gavaskar on MI, CSK's struggles in IPL 2025

Gavaskar on MI and CSK's poor season (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

The Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been having a terrible 2025 season. Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar shared his views on the two teams and what has gone wrong for them in IPL 2025 which has led to a lot of inconsistent performances.

CSK are currently at the bottom of the table while MI are seventh, which has surprised the fans a lot since both these teams are the most successful franchises in the tournament with a combined 10 titles. Former 1983 World Champion Sunil Gavaskar stated that it is the stubbornness of both sides to make some necessary changes in their batting order that has led to such underwhelming performances bringing up the issues with Ruturaj Gaikwad in the yellow jersey and Tilak Verma in the blue.

“Both teams have shown a stubbornness to change the batting order that is not producing runs for them. , who has made a name for himself with heaps of runs as an opener, had before his unfortunate injury, dropped himself to bat at the fall of the first wicket. Now, why would a skipper do that unless he is out of form and the other openers are batting superbly and are in much better form than he is in. That is not the case, and so invariably when he went into bat, the Chennai team had lost a wicket in the Powerplay and he had to be a bit watchful and in the process a lot of dot balls would be the result,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid Day.

“Similarly, the Mumbai team’s reluctance to send at No. 3 despite his stellar record for India at that number is baffling indeed, However good an overseas batter may be, it is not easy for him to immediately come to terms with the Indian pitches, which is all the more reason for an Indian who has thrived at that number should be sent there and not dropped down the order. There’s still more than half the tournament to be played, so there’s plenty of matches to be won and climb up the ladder,” Gavaskar added.

Fast decision-making is yet to be seen from both Chennai and Mumbai: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further stated bringing up the time when the Mumbai franchise knew how to bounce back after a slow start and has revealed that the same ability to bounce back has not been seen in the last couple of years. He mentioned that T20 cricket needs fast decision-making which is yet to be seen by both teams this year.

“There was a time when Mumbai fans weren’t too worried if their team started slowly because they knew that they would come back strongly in the second half. However, the last couple of years have shown that the bounceability is no longer the same. T20 cricket demands quick thinking and super fast decision making, and that is yet to be seen from both Chennai and Mumbai," the former legend-turned-commentator concluded.