IPL 2025 Venue Analysis: Will The OG Chepauk Pitch Return With Spinners Dominating?
Chepauk in Chennai has always been associated with spinners as it has historically been the most successful venue for spinners in the IPL. But in the previous two seasons, their impact has gone down.
The batters have found Chennai to be more batting-friendly, which has seen big totals being posted and chased in the last couple of years. Teams chasing have a slight edge over teams batting first. An average winning score of 188 shows Chennai, too, has become like other venues in the country, catering more towards a batting paradise.
Pacers have dominated spinners in every aspect, taking 66.2% of the wickets in the last two editions. Their bowling strike rate is 17.9, which is excellent on any ground.
PACERS HAVE DONE BETTER THAN SPINNERS IN LAST TWO SEASONS
Spinners had a horrible season in 2024 in Chennai, managing just 25 wickets. Even though the economy was less than in the 2023 edition, spinners lacked the main task of wicket-taking at this venue. Pacers, on the other hand, stepped up with wickets and maintained a decent economy rate.
Even though there was a drop in wickets in middle overs in Chennai in the last two years, run scoring was still a challenge as the venue maintained an economy of 7.3 between overs 7-15, making it the most economical ground in this phase.
SPINNERS HAVE NOT BEEN IMPACTFUL IN RECENT YEARS
Spinners had a terrible IPL season in Chennai in 2024. Like many other venues, the spinners were getting thrashed, averaging just one wicket per innings. The economy was decent at 7.3. However, the impact was far too small compared to IPL 2023.
The spinners were heartbroken by the behavior of the Chennai wicket in 2024, as the assistance to spin was almost nil. Spinners struggled so much to get breakthroughs that the bowling SR of 26.7 was the second-worst for spin bowlers at this venue in the 18-year history of the IPL.
FINGER SPINNERS HAVE THE BEST RECORD
Finger spinners have done well at this venue. This is a big reason why CSK is the only team in the IPL that backs finger spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja over wrist spinners.
Spinners in general had a terrible IPL in Chennai in 2024, and finger spinners struggled too while taking wickets, managing just 18 wickets and an average of 34 runs per game.
