IPL 2026 has been forgettable for him Ruturaj GaikwadBoth as a captain and batsman. On Monday, May 19, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. With this victory, CSK's hopes of reaching the playoffs are almost over. They need to win their last league game against in-form Gujarat Titans on Thursday and hope other results go in their favour.
On Monday, Ruturaj won the toss and decided to bat first citing dry wicket. Although his assessment was correct, the pitch was nowhere near playable. However, the right-handed batsman put up a tough fight and scored 15 runs off 21 balls before being dismissed. Chennai were eventually restricted to 180/7 with the help of three wickets from Pat Cummins. In reply, the visiting team returned home with an over to spare on the back of a solid half-century from Ishan Kishan and a stormy innings from Heinrich Klaasen.
Talking about Ruturaj's tough campaign with the bat, the 29-year-old scored only 321 runs in 13 innings at an average of 29.18 and a strike rate of 120.68. He scored only two half-centuries during the season.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that the Men in Yellow management should hand over the leadership responsibility to Sanju Samson after the end of this season. The cricketer-turned-specialist believes the move could help Ruturaj excel as a pure batsman.
Vaughan said on Cricbuzz, “I see Samson taking over the captaincy next year. It could also help Ruturaj's batting. It could be better for him to get back into the ranks as a batsman. Sanju is world class and very smart as a captain too. So I think it would be better to make Sanju Samson the captain.”
They haven't been lucky with injuries: Vaughan on CSK's campaign
CSK has faced several injuries during the season. Vaughan acknowledged this fact and said that Samson will have a better campaign in his second season at CSK next year.
“They have been better than last year. Overton's injury has been costly. They have been unlucky with injuries. It was Sanju's first year, so he will be better next year,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan also wondered whether MS Dhoni, who was on the bench this season due to fitness concerns, would come back to play next year.
“It also remains to be seen whether Dhoni comes next year and what impact he has on the group. But I am sure even if he is not playing, he will come next year. Still, they are two or three players away from competing at the highest level, but they are not too far away,” Vaughan said.
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