Most Painful Match: Shameless CSK Management?

It’s official: Chennai Super Kings are the first team to be eliminated from IPL 2025 playoffs. And they couldn’t have chosen a worse stage — a home game at Chepauk — to crash and burn.

Despite Sam Curran’s fireworks, it was Yuzvendra Chahal’s game-changing hat-trick that stole the night and buried CSK’s season.

Sam Curran looked like a man on a mission, smashing 88 off 47 and lifting CSK from 48/3 with Brevis in a 78-run stand. But then came Chahal’s 19th over carnage — four wickets, a hat-trick and complete chaos.

From 200+ dreams to being bowled out for 190, CSK imploded right when they needed to stay calm.

Chasing 191, PBKS lost a few early wickets but Shreyas Iyer stood tall, anchoring the innings with a half-century.

He played the perfect second innings — calm, clever, clinical. With dew and nerves on their side, PBKS cruised to a statement win and pushed themselves up the table.

Let’s just say it: Why on earth is CSK still backing Deepak Hooda? He’s been a complete liability. Can’t even clear the inner circle when he tries to slog.

It’s painful to watch. Fans are screaming for Bedi to get a shot and rightly so — it’s high time CSK stops playing sentimental cricket and starts playing smart.

It’s a brutal end to CSK’s playoff hopes. A team once feared for its nerve under pressure now looks lost.

Curran gave them hope, Chahal snatched it away and Hooda… well, he probably sealed it. As PBKS celebrate a famous win, CSK must face the music — and a long, hard rethink for 2026.