Chennai Super Kings’ first home match had a big impact on the mood at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. What started with a thunderous applause for captain Ruturaj Gaikwad at the toss turned into complete silence after the CSK skipper once again played a wobbly innings in the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League.

Batting with Sanju Samson and then young Ayush Mhatre, Gaikwad never really got going and played a poor innings of 28 off 22, completely dismantling Chennai’s top order.

| IPL 2026: csk vs pbks updates, Achievement: |

But it wasn’t entirely his fault. CSK, who came to bat first on a pitch that looked quite flat, faced setbacks in the very beginning. In the second over, Sanju Samson sent the ball back to the keeper while trying to drive Xavier Bartlett. It seemed as if Gaikwad had been pushed into his shell, from which he never really came out.

After hitting only two fours in his 22-ball innings, Gaikwad’s innings ended in the 12th over with what was probably one of the most harmless balls of the innings, wide of the leg side.

The batsman’s form was such that he chased the ball and swept it, but found Nehal Wadhera, the only fielder posted on the boundary.

Chepauk crowd was the loudest at the beginning of the matchSilent as their captain slowly walked away with his head bowed in disappointment.

Cricket fans on Twitter were also not happy with Gaikwad’s innings and criticized the batsman for his second failure of the season.

Chennai Super Kings were saved on Friday by a brilliant innings from Ayush Mhatre, who scored 73 runs off just 43 balls before being dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal. Apart from young Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan played a brilliant inning of 32 runs in 12 balls to give the home team a late lead.

ipl 2026 | ipl schedule | ipl points table | ipl video | cricket news | live score

– ends