“He wasn’t even attempting to hit a four or a six” – Aakash Chopra criticizes CSK star after IPL 2026 loss vs SRH

After the Chennai Tremendous Kings’ (CSK) defeat of their IPL 2026 conflict towards the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), former India participant Aakash Chopra has criticized Ruturaj Gaikwad for enjoying an especially gradual knock. He identified that the CSK captain wasn’t even making an attempt to play an enormous shot.

Gaikwad scored 15 runs off 21 balls as CSK set SRH a 181-run goal within the 63rd sport of IPL 2026 in Chennai on Monday, Could 18. The guests then achieved the goal with 5 wickets and 6 balls to spare to qualify for the playoffs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the previous India batter questioned Gaikwad for scoring his runs at a pedestrian tempo.

“What about Ruturaj Gaikwad and this knock? You made 15 runs off 21 balls. I used to be seeing the scorecard as a result of the pitch is gradual at occasions, and everybody performs slowly if that is the case. Sanju Samson had a strike fee of 207. Urvil Patel had a strike fee of 162. Kartik Sharma had a strike fee of 168. Dewald Brevis had a strike fee of 162,” Chopra mentioned.

“Shivam Dube was struggling. They had been bowling very properly in the long run, and there was no area restriction. So he had a strike fee of 113. Prashant Veer scored 11 runs off 9 balls. He had a strike fee of 122. 15 runs off 21 balls is a strike fee of 71. Not a single boundary, and the larger factor than that was that he wasn’t even making an attempt to hit a 4 or a six, as if it did not matter,” he added.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was the one CSK batter to have a strike fee of lower than 100 of their IPL 2026 conflict towards SRH. He was ultimately dismissed whereas making an attempt his first massive shot, caught at deep sq. leg off Pat Cummins’ bowling.

“Is the staff administration asking him to play this manner?” – Aakash Chopra on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s strategy in IPL 2026

In the identical video, Aakash Chopra questioned whether or not the staff administration desires Ruturaj Gaikwad to play an anchor’s position and opined that the CSK captain ought to refuse to take action if that is the case.

“Is the staff administration asking him to play this manner, that he must be the pivot, and the staff ought to revolve round him? Is it the staff’s determination? Whether it is, you’re the captain, refuse to play like that,” he mentioned.

The cricketer-turned-commentator additionally questioned whether or not Gaikwad is succumbing to captaincy stress.

“Secondly, is captaincy weighing him down as a result of this has been taking place for a lot of video games? When he has scored runs, he has not scored runs at a good clip. You might be asking Kartik Sharma to hit. You might be saying the identical factor to Urvil Patel and Sanju Samson,” Chopra noticed.

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Ruturaj Gaikwad is a a lot better participant and termed his strategy disappointing. He opined that CSK would have received the sport had they scored 15 extra runs.

Edited by Kartik Iyer