Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath expressed concerns about Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy after his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) started their IPL 2026 campaign with a horrific loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR). A year after enduring their worst-ever IPL season, with a bottom-place finish, the Men in Yellow began the ongoing season on a similar note.

Batting first, CSK posted a sub-par 127 before allowing RR to chase the score down in only 12.1 overs. The five-time champions have struggled since Gaikwad took over as captain in the 2024 season.

They failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2024 and were reeling with only one win in five matches last season, before Gaikwad was ruled out of the tournament with injury.

Talking about Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy after CSK’s season-opening loss to RR, Badrinath said on his YouTube channel (8:32):

“His captaincy has been a big question mark. The side’s energy seemed very low in the last match. His decisions are also questionable. And his captaincy record is also not good.”

CSK are on a five-match losing streak under Gaikwad, dating back to last season, and have won only eight out of their 20 games under him.

“PBKS look like a well-oiled machine under him” – S Badrinath on Shreyas Iyer

Subramaniam Badrinath had high praise for the skipper of CSK’s next opponents, Punjab Kings (PBKS), Shreyas Iyer. Iyer took over as PBKS skipper last season and immediately led the side to a runners-up finish.

Before Iyer’s arrival, PBKS had missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons since their run to the final in 2014.

“He (Iyer) is thriving as a captain. PBKS look like a well-oiled machine under him with the Indian youngsters firing. Even the foreign youngsters seem to be firing like Cooper Connolly in the last match. Punjab Kings will be a force to be reckoned with, and CSK has to play really good cricket to beat them,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).

PBKS have started their 2026 campaign in style with a three-wicket win over the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Mullanpur. The CSK-PBKS clash will be played at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai tomorrow (April 3).