Ruturaj Gaikwad's Tactical Blunder Called Out: "MS Dhoni Didn't Approve Using That"
Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy blunder was called by by fomer CSK batter Ambati Rayudu, who also revealed that MS Dhoni never approved of such a strategy.
- Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy and batting have been criticized after CSK's winless start in IPL 2026
- CSK's death over bowling strategy against RCB, involving wide yorkers, was heavily punished by batsmen
- Former CSK batter Ambati Rayudu stated MS Dhoni never approved of CSK's current death over tactics
The franchise, remaining winless after the first three matches, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad finds himself in the line of fire early into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. CSK put all their trust in Ruturaj to lead the franchise into a new phase, but both his batting and captaincy have let down the management. In fact, in the game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday, Ruturaj took a few tactical calls that are being critically ridiculed. In fact, former CSK batter Ambati Rayudu said that MS Dhoni never approved of the strategy that Ruturaj used against RCB.
CSK pacers, particularly Anshul Kamboj and Jamie Overton, bowled wide yorkers against RCB batters - Tim David and Rajat Patidar - during the death overs, and were brutally punished. Rayudu said that such a strategy was always discouraged when Dhoni was the captain.
"They've tried that in practice sessions over the years, but it never translated into games because MS didn't approve of using that kind of angle in the death. Even as batters, we found it easy to counter those deliveries - if you stand just half a foot outside the crease, the angle is completely nullified," Rayudu said during a discussion on ESPNcricinfo.
"I think that's an area they need to review. Sometimes, it's better to stick to conventional strategies: good yorkers, well-pitched slower balls, keep it simple and basic," he added.
After the game, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming cited David's acceleration in the death overs as the turning point in the game. "The real turning point was the Tim David in the back end, the acceleration he did through the last sort of five overs," Fleming said in the press conference after the match.
The head coach also said that CSK started well and created chances, but failed to take enough wickets and lost control in the final overs. Fleming felt that a 210-220 total would have been in CSK's reach, but the late slump left them shaken, which also affected their batting early on.
"Some good things early on, we created some chances. We unfortunately just couldn't get a couple more wickets for our efforts, and then we hung in, and then unfortunately just lost our shape in the back end. It was a good wicket, and I think if we'd just been able to hold our nerve and execute a bit better, 210, 220 would have been in our grasp. But we just got a little bit shell-shocked and that flowed through into the early parts of batting as well," Fleming explained.
Chennai Super Kings
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
MS Dhoni
Ambati Rayudu