Ruturaj Gaikwad is getting the support of the Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming after another poor performance, which saw the CSK bowlers close a tough match early, leaving the side threatened to miss out on the playoffs for the third consecutive season in the IPL. Questions have been increasingly mounting about the franchise’s transition from MS Dhoni to Gaikwad ever since they lost dispiritingly in the five-wicket battle against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chennai. But Fleming still believes the up-and-coming skipper could help bring the team into a new future – just if it will take longer than the quarter he had hoped for.
Their defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad has left the Chennai Super Kings playoff dreams hanging in the balance and shed light on some of the concerns that have marred their performance in the IPL so far. CSK have had the power play hurt them, inconsistency on the ball and injuries suffered this season. The name of Gaikwad has held the spotlight amid all of this when it comes to the likes of him captaining as well as opening the innings in white-ball cricket.
The first piece of news was when Fleming admitted that Gaikwad’s season long average remains below par compared to the previous ones. But the CSK captain had just 9 runs off 11 balls in the powerplay session in the format, which is set to be defined by the aggressive starts this season, against SRH once again. “In fact, Fleming said in a remark that Gaikwad himself knows what he has to do to improve.
The CSK coach also said that Gaikwad has been a good batter in a class before and added that he hasn’t been generating the “quantity of runs” or “pace of runs” so far this season. Those remarks are indicative of the problem that Chennai have in its endeavours to adapt to the present-day hyper-attacking mode of T20 cricket. But as other franchises continue to push scoring rates to the extreme, CSK had looked to be dancing on a tightrope between rebuilding or sticking to the traditional approach.
But, Fleming also said that the dispensation of MS Dhoni’s leadership of the team and a new captain will always be difficult going. Dhoni was a personality who influenced the Chennai Super Kings not just psychologically but also with tactics. He had been molding the character, coolness and culture of a franchise for over 10 years. It’s not an easy task for any team to take the place of someone of this caliber.
“Gaikwad is still learning every day and he is in the process of developing his skills little by little,” said Fleming. He pointed out the kind of respect Gaikwad earns in the camp, and said the 28-year-old possesses all the ingredients to establish himself as a good long-term leader for CSK. The comments by the coach Indra Josyula hint at the franchise’s continued support for Gaikwad in spite of the poor campaign of the year.
Intriguingly, it was also noted that Fleming has been crucial in his barring absence around the squad, despite not being at the pitch in an active role. This was the first time in the season that the legendary wicketkeeper-batter has turned out to be in the stadium as he said that Dhoni still has a great impact on the younger players and everyone playing in the team.
Nonetheless, doubts still linger on both counts – about Dhoni as well as about Fleming for the franchise. When contacted about Dhoni’s next season plans, Fleming could only give a scant response and said the team was in the here and now. The speculation about Dhoni is now looming on every IPL season, but all the more, his teammate CSK is having a rough year.
In the meantime, Fleming himself admitted that his fate with Chennai Super Kings now depends on ‘the management’. The New Zealander has been successful with the franchise over the years, but results are most important in professional sport, he acknowledged. It has been tough for the CSK team to keep the consistency in form and qualitative discussion about changes is imminent, given the inability to qualify in the last three seasons.
Meanwhile Fleming did stand up for some of the upsides of the ongoing season. He also noted that CSK also had the youngsters rising up besides adding what he called as a ‘generation player’ for the future of the team. They have failed to satisfy their fans till now, but it does not seem as if the management is thinking about rebuilding from the ground up with newer players to run the franchise in the post Dhoni era.
Last but not least, it is not just one season, one captain or one CSK challenge that is looming ahead for the latter. The franchise is trying to shift their approach from relying on stability and leadership of one of the finest cricket captains of all-time to developing into a new team. Such a process involves increasing stress, instability and aches and pains.
IPL 2026 has turned into an endurance trial for the players like Ruturaj Gaikwad. He is now under the microscope as captain of one of the most prep-heavy and challenging times faced by one of the IPL’s most formidable teams. Stephen Fleming’s performance of sorts has made it evident that CSK still have faith in their skipper and the next 3-4 months will only make it more evident whether Gaikwad is, indeed, the next big leader of CSK or not.
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