Questions are being raised on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s poor form and captaincy in IPL 2026. At the same time, Chahal’s excellent record against CSK and the changing pitch of Chepauk is making the match more interesting. A tough competition can be seen between CSK and PBKS.
CSK vs PBKS Today Match: The 7th match of IPL 2026 will be played today on Friday, April 3 between Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings. This exciting match to be held at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai will start at 7.30 pm. In today’s match, CSK is expected to get the advantage of its home ground and spectators in Chennai. However, Dhoni is still unfit, so the team will have to play without him.
CSK vs PBKS Toss Update: What time will the toss take place?
The toss of this match will take place at 7 pm. At the same time, the game will start at 7.30 pm. Let us tell you that the beginning of this season has been very bad for Chennai Super Kings. Opener Sanju Samson could not show anything special in his first match against Rajasthan Royals. CSK’s performance in both batting and bowling has not been as per its name.
CSK vs PBKS Pitch Report: How is the Chepauk pitch?
Chennai’s Chepauk ground may look a little different this time. During the T20 World Cup, the pitch here was challenging for the fast bowlers. Good pace and bounce was seen on the pitch, which made it easy for the batsmen to play straight shots. Same thing can be seen in IPL also. It is reported that there is light grass present on the pitch. The temperature may go up to 35°C on Friday, while the minimum is expected to be 26°C. This is the same pitch where India scored a huge score of 256/4 against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup.
CSK vs PBKS: Head-to-head statistics
The competition between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings has always been tough. There is a tie between the two teams with 16-16 wins so far. However, since 2022, PBKS has won 5 matches, while CSK has won only 1 match.
IPL 2026: Arshdeep Singh vs Khalil Ahmed clash
Arshdeep Singh of Punjab and Khalil Ahmed of Chennai are counted among the best left-arm fast bowlers of IPL. In terms of taking wickets in powerplay since 2024, Arshdeep is at first place with 40 wickets, while Khaleel is at third place with 31 wickets. Both of them also have strong records against the captains of the opposing team.
Questions on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s form and captaincy
Rituraj Gaikwad has been out on single digit scores 6 times in his last 10 innings of IPL. He missed a large part of the last season due to injury. This season he is batting at the top of the order and has a new opening partner. This new partner can become a challenge for his captaincy. In a conversation with Sanju Samson, Gaikwad told that Samson wants him to continue the captaincy of CSK, but it will completely depend on the performance of the team. Gaikwad’s record in Chepauk has been excellent. Here he has scored 764 runs at an average of 50.9 and strike rate of 142.
Chennai Super Kings Possible Playing-11
Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ayush Mhatre, Matt Short, Shivam Dubey, Karthik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmed, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Sarfaraz Khan.
Punjab Kings Possible Playing-11
Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Yanson, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vaishakh, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Priyansh Arya.