IPL 2026: 'I hate to ... ': Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad's blunt verdict after Chennai Super Kings loss

NEW DELHI: The disappointment was clearly visible on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s face after Chennai Super Kings slumped to an eight-wicket defeat against Gujarat Titans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.

Leading from the front, Gaikwad played a lone hand with a gritty unbeaten 74, helping CSK post a competitive 158/7 against GT.

In response, a fluent half-century from Sai Sudharsan, along with important contributions from Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, powered Gujarat Titans to a comfortable win with eight wickets in hand.

GT executed a clinical chase, with their top three - Sai, Gill and Buttler - doing the bulk of the scoring. The victory marked their fourth of the season, lifting them to fifth place on the points table.

"Yes, to be honest, sometimes i hate to assess in that way, but I felt it was challenging. I was holding a bit for the pacers; the pace was inconsistent, and the bounce was up and down. But if we hadn't lost too many wickets, we could've reached 170-180. Not expected to be honest, it's tough to assess the conditions here," Gaikwad said after the match.

"In the last three matches, we learned how the game would play out. We had a 60-70% chance in the last two three games, but we didn't expect it to play like this today. We just couldn't adapt to the conditions. In the first timeout, I told Flem that I was trying to be positive and aggressive. But at times, the ball popped out with inconsistent bounce. I told him I was trying to adapt, but it wasn't possible," he said.

"You couldn't judge, and you couldn't expect it to turn out well. We were lethargic and didn't start well, but we needed to do better. I got off to a good start (10 off 6), I thought I would keep the momentum, but then we saw 3 wickets fall while we were trying to build a partnership. Another wicket fell and I wanted to take my time. For any other pitch I might've rotated the strike better. Once I got hit, I just thought I will take my chances and get some momentum back. We were batting really well, if we hadn't lost two quick wickets, Mukesh would've come in the second innings. But we lost two wickets quickly, which is why we opted for an impact player," he added.

CSK will next take on Mumbai Indians on Saturday.