The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are languishing at the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 points table, and the side’s woes deepened on Sunday with the five-time champions suffering a 43-run loss against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
To make matters worse for the franchise, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has struggled with the bat, managing just 41 runs in three games, with his highest score being 28. He has failed to galvanise the squad in the absence of MS Dhoni and Dewald Brevis.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan isn’t impressed with how Gaikwad has gone about his business, saying the 29-year-old has been guilty of waving his arms all the time. On Sunday, RCB hammered CSK for 250 runs, and the latter’s bowlers were sent on a leather hunt by Rajat Patidar and Tim David, who shared an unbeaten 99-run stand off just 35 balls.
CSK were never in with a chance of chasing the total down after losing Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre within the first three overs. With the loss to RCB, CSK suffered a third defeat in a row, following losses to Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings.
Vaughan believes CSK will continue to struggle in IPL 2026 as they have a weak bowling lineup, and things can only change if the attack starts to pull its weight.
“Teams struggling like CSK are all running around in the field. They are clueless about where to be. The captain is waving his arms all the time. They’ve got some players that aren’t fiery. Their bowling attack will travel because it lacks mystery,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
“When they’ve been winning this tournament, they’ve had the greatest captain that’s ever played T20 cricket (Dhoni) behind the stumps. He waved his paddles around and then went in at No.6 or 7 and won games of cricket. Their bowling is the real concern, and hence the struggles of the top three,” he added.
Jadeja trade
Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, CSK traded both Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to the Rajasthan Royals and brought Samson on board. However, Vaughan believes this was the wrong move from the get-go, as the all-rounder could have used his experience to help the franchise in difficult times like these.
“It’s surprising they allowed Jadeja to go to RR. Jadeja offers you so much with his experience. He is a big loss in terms of experience for that group. When you are trying to bring in younger players, you need real core experience. You can’t just have core experience with the bat. You need it with the ball as well, and someone like Jadeja is a big loss in the group,” said Vaughan.
CSK, who are at the 10th spot in the points table, will next face the Delhi Capitals on Saturday, April 11. MS Dhoni might feature in this contest if he passes the fitness test later this week.