When it rains, it pours. Following their defeat to Gujarat Titans on Thursday night, which saw all their remote IPL play-off hopes go up in smoke, there is more bad news for the Chennai Super Kings. The entire team has been fined for a slow over rate, and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has truly borne the brunt.
He has been fined a massive ₹24 lakh, while the rest of the playing XI and the impact player will give away 25 per cent of their match fees or ₹6 lakh, whichever is less.
This was not the first time that the CSK had committed such an offence. Earlier, they had done the same thing against Delhi Capitals on April 11. But at least, they had won that time.
Last night, chasing a mammoth 230 to win, Gaikwad's men collapsed for 140 in the 14th over. Other than India international Shivam Dube, who scored 47 off 17 balls, none of the CSK batsmen could impress, leading to an 89-run defeat and league exit.
It was CSK's last match of the season, and they finished it with six wins and 8 defeats. And guess what? Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the entire campaign with speculations of his return alive throughout their matches.
{{/usCountry}}It was CSK's last match of the season, and they finished it with six wins and 8 defeats. And guess what? Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the entire campaign with speculations of his return alive throughout their matches.
{{/usCountry}}"Ruturaj Gaikwad, Captain, Chennai Super Kings, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during Match 66 of TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
As this was his team’s second offence (first offence in Match 18) of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which pertains to minimum over-rate offences, Gaikwad was fined INR 24 lakhs. The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, will be fined either INR six lakhs or 25 per cent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser," an IPL release said on Friday.
Teams don't care though!
The governing body is doing its best and penalising the teams for over-rate offences; however, it's hard to say if these punishments are having any real effects. Almost every game is taking longer than necessary to finish. The viewing experience is not great because of so many delays, of one kind or another.
Players don't appear to care much either. They are getting paid so much money that losing a tiny part of it won't affect them in any way. Despite the IPL penalising teams quite often, there has not been much improvement, one has to say!