'Take Away 3-4 Major Players From RCB' - Ruturaj Gaikwad explains reason for CSK's dismal IPL 2026 campaign

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won their fifth IPL title in 2023, but since then, they have not reached the playoffs. While they finished fifth in 2024, 2025, and 2026 saw them finishing 10th and eighth, respectively. Ruturaj Gaikwad was appointed captain of the franchise in 2024 after MS Dhoni stepped down. Since then, the Maharashtra batter hasn't been able to take his team to the playoffs.

Talking about the tough period for the five-time champions, Ruturaj Gaikwad said that their campaigns have been hurt by several injuries. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL last year and successfully defended it this year. However, Gaikwad said that the Rajat Patidar-led side would not have achieved this success had their top players been sidelined with injuries.

"The last two years haven't gone the way everyone expected. But you have to understand certain dynamics and factors that affect a season. Even in 2025, me being captain and missing more than half the tournament was definitely a setback. Last year too, we had four or five players from our playing XII miss almost half the tournament," Gaikwad said, in an interview with Sportstar.

"Even if you look at the successful teams like RCB, if you take away three or four major players, it is definitely going to have an impact. Those are factors a lot of people don't take into consideration. It is a results-driven tournament and everyone expects CSK to do well every year because that's what the franchise has done for 15 or 16 seasons. But there will always be phases where things don't go your way," he added.

Gaikwad said that compared to last year, the Men in Yellow had a much better campaign in 2026 and promised more improvements heading into the upcoming season.

"Compared to 2025, I felt we had a much better season in 2026. There will be more improvements going into next year," the right-handed batter stated.