Chennai Super Kings will look to secure a hat trick of wins, when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next game on Saturday, April 18 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
The Yellow Army endured a tough start to the season facing three successive losses, before making a decent comeback by defeating Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. But, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad's poor batting form still remains a concern for the five-time IPL champions.
Ruturaj Gaikwad's disappointing run in IPL 2026 so far
The 29-year-old batter has struggled a lot in the ongoing IPL 2026 season, amassing only 63 runs in five innings at an average of 12.60 and a strike rate of 105. Ruturaj decided to open the innings with newly signed Sanju Samson this season, but hasn't found rhythm with the bat.
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Stephen Fleming backs Ruturaj Gaikwad
Amid Gaikwad's poor form, in an interaction with Cricbuzz CSK's head coach Stephen Fleming has stepped up to defend the skipper, saying it is matter of time before the star batter starts scoring big knocks.
"He's going fine. He hasn't had the returns that he would like, and he's working hard on that. But that can be the nature of T20. He's training well, he's hitting the ball well, he has a positive mindset, he just hasn't got away yet," said Fleming.
Fleming further added saying that Gaikwad is a quality player and he is working very hard to get back into the form and contribute to the team's success.
"But we've seen over the years that he's a quality player. And if we can cover for him for a few games and he comes into form, then that's the way an IPL can go. Very rarely someone dominates the whole way through, but if we have players coming in and out of form and they dovetail, then that's a good thing. But he's working hard and he's got a lot of support around him," Fleming concluded.
Big blow for CSK
Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) star left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 due to quadriceps injury. Khaleel complained of pain in his right hip and couldn’t complete his fourth over in the clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 14.
Sports Tak has learnt that Khaleel has suffered a grade 2 tear. Also, he suffered a high grade stretch injury of the right rectos femoris indirect head tendon origin. There is a complete tear of the direct head of the muscle.
The 28-year-old will undergo rehabilitation for a minimum of 10 to 12 weeks (nearly three months).
Khaleel Ahmed's performance in IPL 2026
The left-arm pacer had claimed two wickets from five matches in the ongoing IPL 2026 season at an average of 73 with an economy rate of 8.67 per over.