Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson (ANI)
IPL 2026: After succumbing to their second consecutive defeat in the ongoing IPL 2026, the five-time champions are facing the heat from their fans and experts alike. Their first defeat against the Rajasthan Royals was a no-show as they suffered a batting collapse in Guwahati, while in their second game, CSK bowlers had no answers to PBKS batters despite setting up a steep total of 209 for 5 after 20 overs. Punjab Kings were clinical in the chase as they chased down the target with 8 balls to spare.
While everybody is praising Shreyas Iyer for his batting and captaincy, questions have begun to be raised over CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan and ex-New Zealand pacer Simon Doull, while interacting during a post-match show on Cricbuzz, stated that Ruturaj could be feeling “threatened” by Sanju Samson, who also has a long experience of leading a side in the past.
“What about the captain, Gaikwad? Do you think he feels threatened [by Samson]?” Vaughan asked Doull.
“Absolutely,” Doull replied.
“So that’s another kind of dynamic that you’re looking at,” Vaughan added. “[One of the league’s] youngest captains, Gaikwad, he’s done it a bit now and you kind of go, ‘Go on, we’re gonna back you, you’re the captain. But by the way, we’re signing Sanju, who’s a very good captain and he’s a keeper. And guess what? We’ve had a keeper who was a captain for a long period of time and did very well, and we’re gonna try and replace him. But you carry on captaining and hope it doesn’t affect you’.”
Samson’s CSK career hasn’t gotten off to the best start, posting consecutive single-digit scores in his initial two matches for the new team. Doull thinks that Samson must regain the confidence he displayed during India’s T20 World Cup victory last month to settle into the yellow jersey.
“Tough challenge for him, and it’s one of those situations you find yourself in when you’re not desperate, but when you want to play for a certain side and you want to put on a show. I mean, he is a South boy, isn’t he? He is a Kerala boy. He wants to put on a show. I think he feels like he’s more at home. In the South, the trade happened; it was a big trade as we’ve talked about-you’ve lost two high-quality players for one player. So the pressure’s quite enormous, the pressure of maybe what they see him as in the future as well. But he has just got to think back to a few weeks ago, doesn’t he? And how was he playing in the last three games [in the T20 World Cup],” said Doull.
CSK, under the captaincy of Ruturaj, are languishing at the bottom of the points table with 2 losses in 2 games. Chennai Super Kings will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 5th.
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