Rituraj Gaikwad (Photo: X)
Rituraj Gaikwad Admitted that Chennai Super Kings Now facing a straightforward but high-pressure equation in IPL 2026 after a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Lucknow Supergiants.The defeat left CSK sixth in the points table with six wins and six losses from 12 matches, significantly complicating their playoff qualification hopes. Chennai now likely need to win both of their remaining league matches, while also keeping a close eye on net run rate, to stay alive in the race for the top four.Speaking after the match during the post-match presentation, Gaekwad remained calm despite the setback and insisted that the qualification scenario for his team was “simple”.“Well, the first challenge is getting to Chennai. It’s a long flight. After that, just make sure that we come back and improve on the areas that we need to improve on and yeah, try and adapt to situations as quickly as possible and anticipate them and it’s a simple calculation for us. Win every single game we play. So I think nothing is easy. I mean, it’s simple, nothing complicated. It’s very easy for us here. Nothing to worry about. Just make sure we have a good day. Count whoever has a good day and hopefully we can turn things around,” Gaekwad said.
Lucknow overtakes Chennai.
Chennai Super Kings suffered a major setback in their playoff push after a seven-wicket loss to Lucknow Supergiants at the Ekna Stadium.Playing his first match of IPL 2026, left-arm pacer Akash Singh starred for LSG with figures of 3/26, dismissing Rutoraj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Arul Patel on a lively surface using sharp short-pitch bowling. CSK struggled early on and managed just 37/2 in the powerplay.Despite Karthik Sharma’s 42-ball 71, CSK could not put enough pressure on Lucknow.Australian openers in reply Mitchell Marsh And Josh Inglis dominated the chase with an opening stand of 135 runs in just 11.4 overs. Marsh scored a 38-ball 90, including four consecutive sixes in a brutal over by Anshul Kamboj that effectively sealed the contest.Nicolas Pooran later completed the chase in the 17th over as LSG completed a comfortable victory.
