Rachin Ravindra for Faf du Plessis could be win-win for CSK

Chennai Super Kings faced opening woes for majority of their IPL 2025 campaign, perhaps one of the biggest contributing factors to their historic 10th placed finish. The five-time champions experimented multiple options at the top of the order, giving opportunities to Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Shaik Rasheed among others. However, none of the aforementioned players could make any impact.

Why CSK must look to get back Faf du Plessis in IPL 2026 trade window

While Conway only featured in 6 matches and scored 156 runs, it was Rachin who squandered most chances. The Kiwi batter only managed to score 191 runs from 8 matches in IPL 2025, averaging just 24.29. He was given a good number of opportunities in the first leg of the tournament but the batter simply failed to fire, forcing CSK to look for other options.

With reports claiming that DC are looking to release vice-captain Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk, CSK have a golden opportunity to get their former opener back into the side. The five-time champions could trade Rachin for du Plessis in what could be a win-win for both teams, more so for CSK.

du Plessis is a player who is aging like fine wine. Despite being 41 years old, the former South African batter has shown consistency with the bat across leagues in the world. In IPL 2025, he scored 202 runs in 9 matches for DC. He could have fared better if he wasn’t boggled by injuries for a considerable period of time during the season.

Faf began his IPL career with CSK back in 2012 and was with the side till IPL 2021 after which he moved to RCB. Out of 4773 runs that he has amassed so far, majority of them have come while he has played for CSK. In fact, he was one of the best openers for the five-time champions.

While CSK may be on the hunt for a young opener to accompany Ayush Mhatre at the top, it would be wise to pair the youngster with a veteran like du Plessis. Besides, it is all but confirmed that captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is to play at number 3 and won’t return as an opener.