Kolkata: You know something’s not right when a team scrambles its Impact Player into action after losing only three wickets, that too only 19 balls into the process of setting a target on a tricky pitch.
Granted teams batting first haven’t had it safe in recent times and the pressure of breaching 200 has gone through the roof. But Chennai Super Kings also possess a fantastic winning record defending modest totals. Whatever happened to that conviction in Guwahati on Monday evening in their first game of IPL 2026?
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad says it has taken a hit. “We could have been better in batting, taken the game deep, shown some batsmanship, maybe taken the game till 150-160,” he said after their eight-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals in one of their worst opening defeats in IPL. “But nowadays, you never know what is a good score. You just have to keep going. So, I think it’s just one of those days where the wicket was on the tougher side, so not frustrated at all.”
Asked to bat first, Chennai were 127 all out in 19.4 overs. Royals reached 128/2 in 12.1 overs.
This being their first match, frustration should definitely not be the reaction. CSK’s approach also raises some red flags, especially after needing a record 10th-wicket partnership to lift them past 100. This despite assembling some of the cleanest hitters of the game. The pitch however was tacky, and needed more than just free-hitting skills to survive. That’s where Sanju Samson, Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan or even Shivam Duve could have made their experience count. But they didn’t.
“Look, I’m sure a few guys will say, ‘oh, in hindsight, maybe I could have played a bit differently’,” Mike Hussey, CSK batting coach, said after the game. “But on another day, it comes off and they change the momentum of the game. And so, I don’t want our batsmen moving forward to have clouded thoughts or put doubts in their mind because I don’t think players are at their best when they’re second-guessing themselves. ‘Oh, do I play this way? Do I play this way?’ And thinking too much.
“I would prefer them to come in with a clear attitude, a clear way on how they want to play, assess the conditions quickly, and then back themselves. If it comes off, great. If it doesn’t, well, then that’s sometimes cricket. So, I don’t want this performance to cloud and put doubt and fear into our team.”
No prizes for guessing that MS Dhoni would have operated from a different gradient on Monday. For someone who believes in taking the game to the wire, Chennai losing seven wickets by the 11th over must have been alarming. Dhoni (calf problem) can only influence so much from outside the ground, and yet, it was surprising to see CSK look so rudderless without him in the eleven.
There is an understandable urgency to not fall behind in maximising the Powerplays in the race to post 200-plus totals. But doing that by trading patience is not a CSK trait.
That desperation could be made out from the balls faced by CSK’s top four—seven by Sanju Samson, 11 by Gaikwad, Ayush Mhatre’s first-ball duck and seven balls by D’Arcy Short. Their strike rates weren’t pretty too but it must have been instructive how Jamie Overton’s 36-ball 43 turned out at the end despite starting slow.
On a pitch where RR opener Yashasvi Jaiswal too struggled—he was unbeaten on a 36-ball 38—200 wasn’t the par score. And by not assessing that quickly enough, CSK failed to adapt and combusted into a paltry score. It would have probably panned out differently had Dhoni been in the middle, but it’s imperative this new lot quickly learns how not to always join the main chorus of IPL.
