Hussey still hopeful of CSK bagging a playoff spot

• Hussey still hopeful of CSK bagging a playoff spot
  Chennai Super Kings batting coach Michael Hussey is still hopeful of his side bagging a playoff spot in IPL 2025. CSK are currently on their worst run in IPL history, having lost their fifth successive game on Friday (April 11). As a result, they are languishing in the ninth spot, marginally above Sunrisers Hyderabad on net run rate.

However, with eight matches still left, Hussey believes CSK can still scrape through to fetch that fourth spot by the end of the league stage. "We are certainly not putting the white flag up just yet," Hussey said after CSK's massive loss to KKR. "You only have to get in to scrape into that fourth place. And a big, long tournament like the IPL, it is about momentum.

"Now, certainly the momentum is not with us at the moment whatsoever. We haven't been playing good cricket consistently. We definitely acknowledge that, put our hands up and say that that is fact at the moment. But that's not to say things can't turn around and can't turn around quickly. So, that's what we're still hanging on to, and that's what we're working hard towards. And if we can change that momentum and get some confidence going and get a few wins on the board, the confidence will grow and you never know.

"We might be able to scrape into one of those last positions in the table come playoffs time. And it's a long way ahead, and we certainly need to change things around. But we still believe that we can do that."

Hussey also reiterated the need to stick together as a group and not enforce massive changes in order to fetch results. "This is where it's a time that we've got to really stick tight together, keep working really hard, keep working on the things that we think are really important," he pointed out. "I mean, there's a lot of talk about the style of our play and things like that, but the players we've got, we don't want to ask them to play in a completely different way from what's natural to them. They've got here to the IPL for playing really well in their way, and I'm certainly not one to try and get them to play in a different way.

"You know, things can turn around quickly. So if we start to fracture, if we start to change things too much, which has certainly not been a CSK trait in the past, then I think things can go worse before they get better."