IPL 2026: R. Ashwin postmortems CSK's humiliating defeat against RR

Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had a forgetful outing in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 opener clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) as the Riyan Parag-led side defeated them by eight wickets.

Ravichandran Ashwin on CSK's defeat

CSK's batting collapse was the main reason behind their defeat. After the match, former India spinner R Ashwin explained why batting was so difficult on that pitch.

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“It wasn’t a great start for CSK last night, but here’s why it was really hard for the batters to take first strike on that pitch. 3 days the pitch remained under covers due to rain, enough moisture to give the first bowling side a significant advantage,” Ashwin posted on X.

“This image illustrates how much the ball has seamed to defeat Sanju on the outer half of the blade. That much seam movement is not ideal in the T 20 format, and it is very tough to control the uncontrollable. For better understanding, that’s a big spinning delivery coming towards the batter at a speed of 140+,” he added.

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CSK vs RR clash

In the match, CSK were bowled out for just 127, which turned out to be far below what was needed. After choosing to bowl first, Rajasthan’s pacers made full use of the conditions. Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer struck early blows to shake CSK’s top order. Later, Ravindra Jadeja added to the pressure. Jamie Overton was the only bright spot for CSK, scoring 43 runs off 36 balls.

Chasing the target, Rajasthan made it look easy. Young talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a brilliant knock, smashing 52 runs off just 17 balls, as his team comfortably chased down the total in just 12.1 overs.