Gaikwad admits CSK had no clue on Chepauk pitch conditions in IPL 2026

CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted his team had no understanding of how the Chepauk pitch would behave during their day game against Gujarat Titans.

CSK's early batting struggle Chennai Super Kings were sent to bat first against Gujarat Titans in their latest Indian Premier League match at Chepauk. The side collapsed to 26 runs for three wickets within the first five overs, marking a rocky start. They managed to recover slightly and finished their innings at 158 runs for seven wickets. The team suffered an eight-wicket defeat after struggling to adapt to the pitch conditions in time. ## Gaikwad reflects on pitch confusion Ruturaj Gaikwad shared that his side had no prior knowledge of how the Chepauk surface would behave during the match. He said, "Last three games we played here, I think we kind of got to know how it will play or we were in a situation where we felt, okay, 60% is going to play like this, 70% is going to play like this. But this game, we didn't have any idea about how it will play, and by the time we wanted to adapt and change, we were, I think, too late. And then after that we tried, but it just didn't come off." He explained that the team attempted adjustments but found it difficult to execute under the circumstances. ## CSK's batting approach at Chepauk In all their home games in the current IPL season, Chennai Super Kings have batted first. On their previous three outings at Chepauk, they scored 209, 212, and 192 respectively while defending the totals in two of those matches. The only exception was the 209-run target, which Punjab Kings successfully chased down. Gaikwad noted that the pitch offered uneven bounce and variable pace, making shot selection challenging. ## Gaikwad's assessment of pitch behavior Gaikwad described the pitch as holding slightly for medium pacers and having inconsistent bounce. He added, "For the medium pacers, it was holding a bit, [and] it was two-paced. Even the bounce was a bit up and down. But I felt if not [for] too many wickets up front, we would have still got to maybe 170 or 180; that would have been still competitive. But I really doubt that. Even after the powerplay, they just still kept coming, and it was a bit difficult to play some shots." He felt early losses made a substantial total hard to achieve despite later adjustments.