IPL 2025: 5 CSK players who didn't do well, but can be retained for IPL 2026

Scoring big runs and taking crucial wickets doesn’t erase the past, especially not for Chennai Super Kings. IPL 2025 was a tricky campaign for the five-time champions, but CSK’s DNA is built on patience and faith in their core. Here are five players who did not perform well this season yet possess enough pedigree to justify retention for IPL 2026.

1. Sam Curran

Expected to be an all-round threat at ₹2.4 crore, Sam Curran was abysmal with the ball and only had a single good knock with the bat. His only memorable knock was worth 88 runs off 47 balls against Punjab, but other than that, he could not help the team at all. Across five matches, he could only manage 114 runs. He had even worse results with the ball as he was able to get just one wicket, bowling in all five innings and holding an expensive economy of 11.08.

He has been a proven asset in the past for the Chennai team and has helped them from both ends of the game. Although he did not have a great season, he can surely be trusted and can be given another season to find his form.

2. MS Dhoni

At 43, Dhoni’s bat didn’t blaze as it once did: 196 runs in 14 matches at an average of 24.5 and a strike rate of 135.2, that too without any fifty. His highest scores hovered around the 30-run mark, and the signature helicopter shots were a sight not really seen. The majority of the runs he scored came in the matches that were already lost before he came or after the result was evident to not go in their favour.

Yet Dhoni remains the heartbeat of CSK. His 200th IPL dismissal this season underlined why no one reads the game like him. Beyond numbers, his calm under pressure and tactical genius in the dugout are irreplaceable. A lean batting season may sting, but leadership of that calibre is always worth keeping.

3. Ravindra Jadeja

Secured for ₹18 crore, Jadeja chipped in 301 runs at a strike rate of 135.58 and scalped only 10 wickets in 14 matches, with an economy of 8.56. There were flashes, like that brisk 77 against RCB, and his acrobatic fielding saved countless runs. Although he has runs and wickets to show in his tally by the end of the season, he could not provide the team with essential runs and wickets when the team needed them the most.

Finding a replacement for him is not going to be an easy or quick task. He can contribute to the team from all three angles, batting, bowling and fielding. Trusting him to bounce back could pay dividends for the team in the time to come.

4. Shivam Dube

A genuine six-hitter, Dube’s brute power earned him 357 runs at a strike rate of 132.22 in 14 matches. Although he has runs to show in his tally, they did not come at the right time. Too often, he’d unleash one or two monster hits, then suffer a soft dismissal trying to repeat the trick. 

CSK know that if Dube times the ball even half as well as he did in previous seasons, he can clear any ground. Keeping him in yellow is a nod to that match-winning upside that, when he clicks, only a few can stand in his way.

5. Devon Conway

Signed back for ₹6.25 crore, Conway’s return was shortened by injury and form, limiting him to just 156 runs in six matches and averaging 26 at a strike rate of 131. A couple of starts went unfinished, failing to get converted and a shoulder niggle didn’t help either. But his elegant timing and knack for pacing an innings remain assets. Conway’s proven record of over 672 runs in 2023 at an average of 51.69 earns him the benefit of the doubt. Retaining him signals faith that when fully fit, he’ll reclaim the top-order stability CSK crave. He can surely be given another chance to prove his worth.

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