Yet another painful, forgettable IPL season ends for CSK, that not only brought its share of challenges, but posed some new set of questions, which remained unanswered. On Thursday, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led team played their 14th encounter vs GT, which was a total failure, and ended up losing by 89 runs, while chasing 229. The five-time winners failed to make it to the playoffs, for the third consecutive time since 2024 — only highlighting how things have been systematically going downhill for them.
Just 6 wins along the course of almost two months, along with 8 losses is a fair representation of how bad they played, finishing 7th (for now). Their campaign was also marred with the constant injuries some of their players faced — with as many as 5 players missing entire or part season. With this, it only becomes important to review their entire performance.
CSK results in IPL 2026
There is a reason why IPL is played in home and away format; to give the home team some sort of advantage. But CSK couldn’t use it to full effect, as they went on to lose three home games at home. In fact, in their first two matches at home, they batted well to score over 200, but their bowling turned out to be a big issue.
OppositionResultDateVenueRajasthan RoyalsLost by 8 wicketsMarch 30GuwahatiPunjab KingsLost by 5 wicketsApril 03ChennaiRoyal Challenger BengaluruLost by 43 runsApril 05ChennaiDelhi CapitalsWon by 23 runsApril 11BengaluruKolkata Knight RidersWon by 32 runsApril 14ChennaiSunrisers HyderabadLost by 10 runsApril 18Hyderabad Mumbai IndiansWon by 103 runsApril 23MumbaiGujarat TitansLost by 8 wickets April 26ChennaiMumbai IndiansWon by 8 WicketsMay 02ChennaiDelhi CapitalsWon by 8 wicketsMay 05DelhiLucknow Super GiantsWon by 5 wicketsMay 10ChennaiLucknow Super GiantsLost by 7 wicketsMay 15Lucknow Sunrisers HyderabadLost by 5 wicketsMay 18ChennaiGujarat TitansLost by 89 runs May 21AhmedabadIT is not like, they did not have their chances. Until 11th game, they had a solid chance of qualification, after they beat LSG at home by 5 wickets, requiring them to win two from three — to get to 16 points — usually enough for qualification. But they lost all three from there on.
Top run-scorers & Top wicket-takers for CSK
PlayerRunsAverage SR100sSanju Samson47743.36165.622Ruturaj Gaikwad33728.08123.440Kartik Sharma29532.77136.570Shivam Dube27038.57158.820Ayush Mhatre20133.50177.870 PlayerWicketsAverage Economy4 wicketsAnshul Kamboj2125.2310.520Jamie Overton1417.788.891Noor Ahmad1332.928.390Akeal Hosein824.758.021Mukesh Choudhary831.128.890What went right for Chennai Super Kings?
Trade deal of Sanju Samson: Getting Sanju Samson in the team has to be, has to be the best decision that the franchise has made in a long time. Though they had to get rid of Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja to get him from RR; but in the end with the way he played – two tons, in hindsight, it was the correct decision.
Image Credit: AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A via AlamyCSK over MS Dhoni: Controversial, but perhaps, the team didn’t miss Dhoni much. Yes, he might come back for another season, and couldn’t get in the results.. but finally the team had started to take shape without MSD, which might hold them in good stead for the future. Thala missed entire season due to an injury. It was widely reported that he was fit to play, but did not want to disturb the balance of the side.
Batting order looks settled: Though the results did not go their way, but one gets a feeling, they would come a lot more secure for the next season, since their batting clicked. Mhatre scored 200 runs, and looked good in his 2nd year, before getting injured. Sanju of course got two tons. Youngster Kartik Sharma, despite the pressure of huge price tag, scored close to 300 runs in his first year, while Urvil Patel with his sizzling innings of 65 showed, he can be their power-hitter.
Great foreign reserves: Let’s talk about Jamie Overton and Akeal Hosein; the duo were brilliant in whatever matches they played, and picked up 14 & 8 wickets, respectively. Overton also went on to score 136 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 158. Come the retention season, they should be on the radar.
What went wrong for CSK?
Multiple injuries: Nathan Ellis missed the entire season, and so did Dhoni. Then Khaleel Ahmed got injured after 5 matches only, leaving a toothless pace attack. Dewald Brevis missed first three matches which Chennai lost badly. Mhatre too suffered a hamstring injury after 6 matches, while Overton was gone after 10. Ramakrishna Ghosh was injured and ruled out in his very first IPL outing. That chopping and changing left them reeling.
Dropped catches: As per reports, CSK went on to drop 20 catches on the field (number unconfirmed). But if that is anywhere close to reality, that is 20 chances missed, of winning matches. In their match against SRH recently, Spencer Johnson dropped Heinrich Klaasen fairly early in his innings; and then went on to score 47 in 26. Chasing 181, had that been taken, Chennai could have inflicted further misery, and maybe won the match.
Image Credit: AP Photo via AlamyRuturaj Gaikwad’s batting: Even though the skipper ended up scoring 337, his SR of 123 for a modern day opener is not adequate. Imagine a scenario where Sanju Samson is having a tough day; A typical Gaikwad innings is only going to put more pressure on him, and the other batters to follow.
Curious case of Akeal: How do you just leave out a player from playing XI, who bags 4/17. That is the fate the Caribbean spinner faced. Even though he showed the knack of picking wickets and being economical, somehow, he was left out of the team, in must-win situations.
Expensive Kamboj: For a bowler picking 21 wickets, it is just unpardonable to have an economy rate of 10.52 in the season. That just shows, that even though he was getting wicket, he wasn’t bowling the best. In one match vs LSG, he returned with figures of 0/63 in 2.4 overs.
The verdict
It was CSK season that went on expected lines; a lot of potential remained unfulfilled. Yes, injuries set them back miles, but they were in the hunt until early May. It all changed when they lost Overton to an injury and never got going after that. This year though, they should be content that youngsters really stepped up and showed the way for a solid future. They get a 5.5/10.
CSK season review: Dhoni’s absence, Gaikwad’s intent & what went wrong in IPL 2026? Inside Sport India.
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