A horrifying start for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first match of the ongoing IPL 2026 season. They lost back-to-back top-order batters inside the power play. After losing the wicket of Sanju Samson, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad also followed the same. Gaikwad lost his scalp only for 6 runs in 11 balls.
CSK found themselves in a slum soon after the match started at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. England star pacer Jofra Archer bowled Ruturaj Gaikwad. The pacer uprooted the middle stump of the batter.
Jofra Archer uprooted the middle stump of Ruturaj Gaikwad
On the last delivery of the third over of the first innings, Archer delivered a full and straight delivery on the line of the stumps, which Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to connect. The right-handed batter tried to go big but missed the ball massively and saw a dismantling middle-stump.
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Who would have thought that the Chennai Super Kings would suffer a batting collapse in their opening match of the IPL 2026 season? Perhaps no one, as on paper, their batting line-up looks highly exciting, even without MS Dhoni and Dewald Brevis. The management did everything to establish a well-structured batting order with a blend of emerging and proven talents.
Ruturaj Gaikwad raised expectations with his terrific form in domestic cricket
The ongoing season has been marked as the stage for the redemption of the 5-time IPL winners after they finished in the bottom-most position in the IPL 2025 points table. The franchise went for a massive makeover to reshape the squad. They brought in Sanju Samson, invested heavily in uncapped Indian cricketers in the IPL 2026 mini auction, and kept their faith in the captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, Gaikwad attracted a lot of runs in domestic cricket, which came as a ray of hope for the fans. The first innings of the RR vs CSK clash turned out to be a dismal Chennai Super Kings batting against a firing Rajasthan Royals bowling.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was struggling from the first ball of the match. He looked out of touch against the thriving pace attack of RR. He smashed a 4, but still did not find his rhythm at the right moment. The skipper walked off scoring 6 runs in 11 balls, which makes his strike rate 54.55.
A better night to forget for the Chennai Super Kings
It was truly a bad day for the Chennai Super Kings in terms of their batting performances. It will be wrong to blame only the leader of the team; the batting malfunction was because of a collective failure.
Like Ruturaj, Sanju Samson, and Sarfaraz Khan, they also were in fine touch ahead of the tournament. Ayush Mhatre won the U-19 World Cup for India as a captain. Shivam Dube, another star in the team, who was also in fine form, failed tonight.
Read More: Sanju Samson castled for 6 by Nandre Burger, fails badly on CSK debut in IPL 2026