Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad He heaped praise on his team despite being eliminated from IPL 2026 after an 89-run defeat to Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on May 21. The Super Kings finished their season with six wins and eight losses from their 14 matches. Despite a slow start, they managed to keep themselves in the playoff race until the end of the season.
Gaikwad supported his team and said that this is a young team which is in a phase of change. Coming into the season with a team full of young players, Gaikwad expressed his happiness at being able to incorporate youth into the team.
“A lot of people don't appreciate the fact that we are a young and changeable team. But looking at the fact that more than 8-10 players have played below 20 games, it's good to give them exposure this year. We know where we are lacking. Really proud of the unit. We missed the chase in Hyderabad, last time we played in Chennai, we could have stopped them,” Gaikwad said in the post-match presentation.
One of the areas where the five-time champions have seen changes is the middle order. Youngsters like Karthik Sharma and Dewald Brewis were picked by the captain as the players who shone in the season. Gaikwad further said Urvil PatelWho was playing his first full season of IPL cricket after being signed as an injury replacement in 2025. Urvil scored a half-century in 13 balls against Lucknow Super Giants in Chepauk, the joint-fastest in the league.
“Moving on from players like Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu – we had years of experience. Karthik Sharma and Brave [Brevis] Who missed playing initially. Karthik has to improve in many areas. Urvil is playing a full season for the first time. When you play an entire season, there are a lot of expectations from you and perhaps this must have been on his mind. Gaikward said, we will come back stronger in the next season.
Put to bat, Titans scored a mammoth score of 229 runs for 4 wickets, with top three Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler scoring half-centuries. At the Narendra Modi Stadium, the five-time champions were stunned by Mohammed Siraj's three wickets with the new ball and were unable to recover after being bowled out for 140.
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