Struggling Chennai Super Kings are facing the hosts Lucknow Super Giants in the 30th match of the IPL 2025 on Monday evening (April 14), where the CSK captain MS Dhoni confirmed two changes in the squad. While Ravichandran Ashwin and Devon Conway are missing from the game, here we are going through the reason for Conway's absence in the game. 

Although the five-time IPL champions CSK won their season opener by four wickets against Mumbai Indians, they suffered five consecutive defeats, as they are sitting at the bottom of the IPL 2025 points table. In their seventh match of the tournament, captain MS Dhoni chose to bowl first and confirmed that Sheik Rashid and Jamie Overton replaced Devon Conway and Ravichandran Ashwin. 

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Devon Conway criticised for slow batting

New Zealand cricketer Devon Conway has played three matches in the ongoing season. After scoring 13 off 14 balls against Delhi Capitals, Conway scored a fighting 69 off 49 balls against Punjab Kings in the unsuccessful chase of 220 runs. Opener scored 12 off 11 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders in their last game, as he has been criticised for his slow starts. 

So, in the crucial away match against LSG, CSK have decided to drop Conway in the search for an alternate opening option, while the 20-year-old Sheik Rashid has made his IPL debut. It will be interesting to see how the new opening combination works for CSK, as the opening partnership has crossed the 20-run mark only once this season. 

Why is Ravichandran Ashwin not playing?

Meanwhile, English bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton has replaced Ravichandran Ashwin, which is another tactical change. As Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium (Lucknow) helps the pacers better, while the spinners generally struggle, and CSK already have the strong spin-bowling options of Noor Ahmad and Ravindra Jadeja, along with Rachin Ravindra, Ashwin was unlucky to sit on the bench for a pace-bowling all-rounder option.