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Ruturaj Gaikwad raises his hand, takes blame for CSK's shellacking at the hands of RCB: 'It's on me today'

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad reacted to the team's heavy defeat against RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. 

Updated on: Apr 6, 2026, 06:14:23 IST
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Nothing is going right for the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. Things went from bad to worse for one of the most successful franchises on Sunday night as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) handed a 43-run drubbing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side were never in with a chance once they conceded 250 runs on the board, but what was disappointing was the lack of fight by the team. CSK were unable to come even close to RCB's total and went down by more than 40 runs. Gaikwad painted a sorry picture during his chat with the broadcaster after the loss as he was short of words to sum up his team's performance.

Ruturaj Gaikwad once again failed with the bat against RCB. (PTI)
Ruturaj Gaikwad once again failed with the bat against RCB. (PTI)

Gaikwad doesn't have anyone else to blame apart from himself. For the third game in a row, his captaincy left a lot to be desired. Moreover, he once again failed to stand up for his team with the bat, scoring just seven runs before being sent back to the pavilion by Jacob Duffy. In the three games for CSK in IPL 2026, the right-hander has managed just 41 runs, with his best score being 28.

Also Read: 8 sixes, 3 fours: Tim David goes bang bang, comes out of syllabus as RCB hammer highest IPL total vs CSK

For the majority of the chase, it seemed that CSK would lose the contest by at least 80-90 runs, but a lower-order blitz helped the franchise avoid a shellacking. However, Gaikwad raised his hand and took the blame on himself for the team's loss against rivals RCB.

“Even I was surprised, to be honest. Great fight by Sarfaraz, Prashant Veer, Jamie Overton, and even to some extent Shivam Dubey. So I think, maybe I would have, contributed more top of the order. You never know, they would have chased it down. So definitely it's on me today,” said Gaikwad.

What happened in the match between RCB and CSK?

RCB posted 250/3 in the allotted twenty overs after being asked to bat first. Tim David hammered 70 runs off 25 balls with the help of eight sixes. Skipper Rajat Patidar also chipped in with a quickfire unbeaten knock of 49 as the RCB batters hammered the CSK bowlers all around the park.

The task was daunting in the chase; however, CSK never made a run for the jugular, losing Sanju Samson, Gaikwad and Ayush Mhatre within the first three overs. Sarfaraz Khan (50), Prashant Veer (43) and Jamie Overton (37) played valuable knocks, but in the end, CSK fell short by 43 runs.

CSK were clumsy in the field as well. Virat Kohli's catch was dropped inside the powerplay while Anshul Kamboj overstepped when Tim David was bowled. At that time, David was 28, but he eventually made an unbeaten 70.

Talking about these errors, Ruturaj said, “Anshul almost got a wicket of him. Unfortunately, it was an illegal delivery, but after that, he just smacked all around the park.”

“Maybe we would have had momentum to ourselves, but I think we still had the game in our hands till the 13th, 14th over, and that's when the momentum really shifted.”

  • Vishesh Roy
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Vishesh Roy

    Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan.Read More

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