Chennai Super Kings After the fifth over, it was 52 runs for two wickets and Ishan Malinga came to bowl the last over of the powerplay. CSK needed to step up and they needed their captain to put pressure on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Rituraj GaikwadWho was shifting gears by scoring 5 runs off 7 balls. Instead, Gaekwad slowed things down further. Facing four balls in the over, the CSK skipper took three singles. After racing to 43/1 in the first three overs, CSK looked set for a powerplay of 70 runs but the man-in-yellow managed just 14 runs and lost a wicket in the next three overs to end the powerplay at 57/2. At the end of six overs, Gaekwad was on 9 off 11 balls, scoring at a strike rate of 81.82. This innings was not an isolated case but it has been a pattern in IPL 2026. Among all batsmen who have faced at least 100 balls in the Powerplay this season, Gaekwad has the lowest strike rate – 124.6. For comparison, Vibhu Suryavanshi has scored 244.51 and Abhishek Sharma has scored 228.87.While the rest of the openers in the league are scoring at a bullet train pace, Gaekwad is still basking in the steam engine era, perhaps unaware that the game around him has changed.Speaking to broadcasters during the 10th over of CSK’s innings, their head coach Stephen Fleming argued, “I know it sounds old school, but we need a guy who can bat in the innings. Ratu has played a lot of cricket. He knows what it takes. We trust him.”However, the CS skipper was also unable to hold the innings together. In 13 innings so far in IPL 2026, Gaikwad has 321 runs at a strike rate of 120.67 with just three 30+ scores to his name. In the match against SRH, Gaekwad finally got out in the 12th over. Pat Cummins. The SRH skipper had his counterpart caught at deep square leg by Ishan Malinga.Gaekwad returned without hitting a single boundary after scoring 15 runs off 21 balls at a strike rate of 71.42.His fellow opening partner is on the same wicket. Sanju Samson Scored 27 runs off 13 balls with five fours and one six at a strike rate of 207.69.At the beginning of the Mahabharata war, Arjuna laid down his weapons because he could not bring himself to fight his brothers and relatives. It was only when Lord Krishna reminded him of his duty that Arjuna stepped forward. Perhaps Gaekwad is also caught in a dilemma, thinking that the opposition bowlers are his compatriots and friends, and that is what is stopping him from attacking the bowler. Maybe even Gaekwad needs a Krishna to show him the right path.
