 "Are CSK still in the IPL 2025 playoffs race after their four-wicket defeat against PBKS? Scenarios explained")
Chennai Super Kings’ miserable run in the 2025 Indian Premier League continued on Wednesday with the five-time champions suffering a four-wicket loss at the hands of Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, their home ground. Shreyas Iyer’s men, thus completed a season double against the ‘Yellow Army’, having defeated them by 18 runs in a high-scoring game in Mullanpur earlier this season.
CSK have now lost eight matches out of 10 in what has been one of their most forgettable IPL seasons ever, one that witnessed MS Dhoni return to leadership a year after handing the baton to young wicketkeeper-batter Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Can Dhoni and Co stage a late comeback and sneak into the playoffs the way Royal Challengers Bengaluru did last year?
Are Chennai Super Kings still in the race to the IPL 2025 playoffs?
Unfortunately for CSK’s supporters, who arguably are the most loyal fanbase in the sport, their team becomes the first to get eliminated from the playoffs race in the 18th season of the world’s biggest T20 league. Which also means that for the first time since the Indian Premier League began in 2008, CSK fail to reach the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Chennai remain rooted to the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table with four points to their name, beating Mumbai Indians in their season-opening game on 23 March and snapping a five-match losing run with a five-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow.
Fought till the end. #CSKvPBKS #WhistlePodu 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/wF0ywTg37y
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 30, 2025
With four games remaining this season for the struggling giants, the maximum points tally they can get to from here is 10, which simply will not be enough for them to secure a top-four finish. Royal Challengers Bengaluru currently are top of the table with 14 points and are followed by Punjab Kings, who collected their sixth win of the season at Chepauk on Wednesday, with 13.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals occupy the next three slots with 12 points each while LSG are sixth with 10.
Teams generally require a minimum of 14 points in order to stand a chance of featuring in the playoffs, going by past trends. Sunrisers Hyderabad remain the only team to have ever secured a top-four finish with just 12 points – which remains a record low to this date.
Rajasthan Royals and SRH, therefore, remain in the playoffs race despite sitting at the eighth and ninth spots respectively on the table. The Sunrisers have an additional game in hand compared to RR and CSK, and can finish with 16 points if they win each of their remaining games, which certainly should see them through to the playoffs for a second year running.
For CSK, the focus now shifts to playing the remaining matches with full freedom and signing off from the season on a high by winning as many of their remaining matches as possible, starting with Saturday’s away game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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