Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bowl in the 43rd match of the Indian Premier League 2025 against Chennai Super Kings on Friday, April 25, 2025 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. CSK, led by MS Dhoni, made two changes to their playing XI with Dewald Brevis and Deepak Hooda coming in for Rachin and Shankar. Dhoni explained that the dew factor influenced their decision to bowl first. He said the team was focused on getting their processes right and was confident in their abilities going forward.
"Dew was the main reason why we also wanted to bowl first. Almost in all the departments when you are not playing good cricket, chances are there will be pressure on the other guys as well. We want to get the process right and that is what we are looking to aim for the rest of the games. We are looking at one game at a time and we are looking at few combinations and have confidence in your ability and execute what you want to. We are not too sure how the wicket is. The groundsmen are trying their level best, I feel the old red soil wicket was a good one, the one before 2010 Champions League. We have made 2 changes. Rachin and Shankar out. Brevis and Hooda in," during the toss MS Dhoni said.
For Sunrisers Hyderabad, captain Pat Cummins said the team was looking to bounce back after a couple of losses. He noted that the pitch appeared dry, and if it played well, the team was backing their batting to put up a big total. "We gonna have a bowl first. Chennai is always a big game, coming off a couple of loses but it is a new venue and boys are up for it. If the wicket is good, backing them to get a big total and otherwise also, backing them to do well. The pitch looks a little bit dry," he said.
CSK have signed South African batter Dewald Brevis as a replacement for the injured Gurjapneet Singh for the remainder of the IPL 2025. Brevis was previously with Mumbai Indians, where he played 10 matches. He failed to attract a bid during the IPL 2025 mega auction after being released by the Mumbai franchise. However, he now finds a new home with CSK, who have signed him for INR 2.2 crore.
The 21-year-old Brevis has played 81 T20 matches and scored 1,787 runs with a highest score of 162. He made his T20 international debut for South Africa in 2023 and has played two matches for the national team so far. Brevis first rose to fame during the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup in 2022. He scored 506 runs in six innings, including two centuries and three half-centuries, earning comparisons to AB de Villiers.
Since then, he has made a mark in global T20 leagues. He has featured for MI New York in Major League Cricket, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League, and also played for Morrisville Samp Army and New York Strikers in the Abu Dhabi T10 League. In the 2025 SA20 League, he finished as the second-highest run-getter with 291 runs. Overall, he averages 26.27 with a strike rate of 144.93 in T20s. He has registered one century and seven fifties in the format.
Both teams are struggling this season and are desperate for a win to keep their play-off hopes alive. Five-time champions CSK have had a disappointing run in IPL 2025, losing six of their eight league matches. Their defeat against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday (April 20) has left them at the bottom of the standings. To stay in the race for the playoffs, they must win almost all their remaining matches. SRH, under the leadership of Pat Cummins, have also underperformed this season. They have won only two of their seven matches and are currently in the ninth spot. As limited opportunities left, SRH will need a string of victories to make it to the top four.
Here are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:
Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Anshul Kamboj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Travis Head, Abhinav Manohar, Sachin Baby, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan Mulder
Teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Aniket Verma, Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Mohammed Shami
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana