Ruturaj GaikwadThe Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad during Match 66 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, which was held on Thursday, May 21.
As this was his team's second offense of the season (first offense in Match 18) under Article 2.22 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which deals with minimum over-rate offences, Gaikwad was fined Rs 24 lakh. The remaining members of the playing eleven, including the impact players, will be fined either Rs 6 lakh or 25 per cent of their respective match fees, whichever is lower.
Reflecting on the defeat, Gaikwad said that it did not go the way he wanted. CSK, which failed to chase the target of 229 runs in 20 overs, was bundled out for just 140 runs in 13.5 overs, giving the team an 89-run win. Shubman Gill-LED side. Gaikwad said that they could not bowl well in the first innings, especially during the overs with field restrictions, and the slow over rate ultimately hurt them during the death overs as well.
After the match he said, “We wanted to chase whatever score as quickly as possible. When you are chasing 230, it is not easy against that bowling attack. Thought, why don't we give it a chance and express ourselves? Credit to them. The wicket was spongy, they got off to a good start. Our bowling was not good in the powerplay. It was difficult to stop their openers. We had a chance to restrict them to under 200, but we did that. I failed.”
Furthermore, he also highlighted that it has been a season to forget for the five-time champions.
“Tough season, first after a hat-trick of defeats. We picked up the pace; we found the right positions and combinations, but then were hit by injuries. With Ghosh and Overton out, we became unstable; we were short of batsmen or bowlers in the last three games. Not many people appreciate the fact that we are a young team in transition, with a lot of inexperienced players. More than 8-10 players have played less than 20 games; they have got exposure, and we have found What areas have we fallen short in,'' he highlighted.
“We still got six wins; proud of the unit. We missed chasing 80 for 10 in Hyderabad and couldn't stop them in Chennai. Not able to do that. Still proud. Moving on from Rahane, Rayudu, etc, the experience we had is tough… Karthik, Urvil and Brewis, who missed the start, are there. Karthik has potential and areas to improve. Urvil is playing a full season for the first time; It comes with expectations,” the Pune-born player stressed.
The biggest question that the CSK captain answered is whether the franchise will be able to see ms dhoni The former captain almost missed the entire 2026 season due to a calf muscle injury and later a thumb injury.
You and I will find out next year [on MS Dhoni for 2027]. This is a difficult mistake for us. He can come in the last overs and change the game by staying at the crease. Don't know about next season, but really happy with the guys we have.
(Input: IPL)
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