RR vs CSK, IPL 2025: Why Chennai Super Kings Should Reunite Devon Conway & Rururaj Gaikwad at Top of Order?

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should stop experimenting with their batting options and reunite the tested opening pair of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad starting from their IPL 2025 clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday (March 30).

CSK has won one and lost one so far this season. Gaikwad-led side opened the campaign with a 4-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, but lost by 50 runs at the same venue against southern rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their most recent match.

In both their outings, CSK has opted to use New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra and new recruit Rahul Tripathi as their options. Although Ravindra has made fine contributions, the partnership has failed to shine with Tripathi falling early in both the matches.

To intergrate the new opening pair, CSK pushed captain Gaikwad down the order to bat at number three and also left out one of their top performers Conway despite the Kiwi being fit and available for selection.

Now, after the continuous failure of the opening partnership and the rest of the top order, CSK may be forced into making the best decision, which in turn can help the team find the right balance. Here is what CSK should do to get the perfect team:

Why CSK should reunite Devon Conway & Ruturaj Gaikwad at top order vs RR?

Conway and Gaikwad had forged a good partnership, playing a pivotal role in the team's title triumph in 2023. But the pair was split in 2024 after the Black Caps opener missed the season due to injury.

This also resulted in Gaikwad sacrificing his spot very often with Ravindra opening the batting with Ajinkya Rahane in most matches. CSK has continued to experiment with their top three in the first two matches of the season.

Ravindra has opened with Tripathi, who has made scores of 2 and 5 so far this season. So, CSK has to definitely give up with this experiment, starting from today's match. Ravindra deserves to keep his spot in the eleven as the number three batter, while Gaikwad should return to the top along with Conway.

Conway and Gaikwad are the second best opening pair in CSK history behind Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay. The Conway-Gaikwad duo have added 1208 runs in 22 innings as an opening pair which has also shared four hundred plus stands. So, it's a no brainer to reunite the pair.

To bring Conway into the playing 11, CSK will just need to drop England all-rounder Sam Curran from the team, and also to add balance to the side, they will need to bring in someone like Anshul Kamboj into the line up.

To accomodate Kamboj, CSK will have to either drop Tripathi or Deepak Hooda. This will also allow likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to bat up the order. Dropping Tripathi will be the best solution as Hooda brings the extra bowling option.

Even experts have questioned the exclusion of Conway from the CSK playing 11 and some former cricketers including Aakash Chopra, who also has an interesting advice of playing just two pacers in the line up. Here is what the former India batter turned commentator posted on X: