Chennai Super Kings, the five-time champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), had a woeful start to their campaign after Rajasthan Royals beat the Yellow Army by 8 wickets on Monday. The match, played at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati, turned out to be a low-scoring game, as Chennai Super Kings failed to get going while being asked to bat first. As for the Rajasthan Royals, headed by Riyan Parag, they had no trouble whatsoever in their chase after the Indian prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi wreaked havoc with the bat, helping his side secure a dominating win in their IPL opener.
Watching RR beat CSK convincingly wasn’t on anybody’s menu, and viewers came out in numbers to mock the Chennai Super Kings with memes and criticism.
Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: A Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Show
Left-arm South
African Nandre Burger received the Player of the Match award for his stunning bowling figures of 2/26 in 4 overs. Nandre, along with Jofra Archer’s 2/19 in 4 overs, helped keep CSK batters quiet. Jamie Overton was the only exception in the CSK camp whose 36-ball 43 helped Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men cross the 100-run mark as Chennai were eventually bundled out for 127 inside their designated 20 overs.
RR opening batter Sooryavanshi was given an early respite after he was dropped by Karthik Sharma in the first over of the run chase and the 15-year-old grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Sooryavanshi slammed four boundaries and five maximums to bring up a sensational 15-ball half-century before he was undone for 52 (17). His partner, Yashasvi Jaiswal, played the perfect second fiddle, remaining unbeaten for 38 in 36 as RR achieved the target with 8 wickets and 47 deliveries to spare.
Chennai Super Kings Receive The Meme Treatment
Simply put, the formidable IPL franchise did not play like champions in their inaugural IPL 2026 outing and the passionate followers expressed immense grief over the humiliating loss served to them by a clinical Rajasthan clan.
Others were ready with memes.
CSK fans watching this match pic.twitter.com/jP2JTiYmEf
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) March 30, 2026
– Most Batters are injured
– One of the worst Bowling Attack
– Fielders doing misfieldingWorst opener of IPL History as a CSK Fan. 😭 pic.twitter.com/fJri6Jv5ec
— Selfless⁴⁵ (@SelflessCricket) March 30, 2026
RR vs CSK, meme slander. 😂 pic.twitter.com/niJqCTFXza
— FairWin247 (@FairWin_247) March 30, 2026
“CSK fans were worried about who will bowl in the death overs after Ellis’ exclusion. So CSK batters ensured we don’t see that phase altogether,” X user @FarziCricketer remarked.
Ravindra Jadeja to csk dugout😂#IPL #CSK #RR #RavindraJadeja pic.twitter.com/5XWHYxB1dJ
— Two Duck Masters (@TwoDuckMasters) March 30, 2026
Spooky Prediction Was Made
Since IPL 2026 got underway last Saturday, viewers have already witnessed two high-scoring, high-octane games. The first match of this year’s edition saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru ruthlessly chasing down Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 201/9 with 26 balls remaining in their kitty. The second encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians saw the latter breaching 221 with 6 wickets and 5 deliveries remaining.
Having watched all four teams cross the 200+ mark in the first two IPL contests, a fan hilariously predicted CSK’s fate after powerplay against RR on Monday.
Ipl started
All the four teams batted scored 200+ runs
Meanwhile CSK tomorrow 42/3 after powerplay pic.twitter.com/YPu6bSMos4
— Yellove Jude (@Murattumamu) March 29, 2026
Where Is MS Dhoni?
MS Dhoni, the five-time IPL-winning skipper, was dearly missed during CSK’s loss. The 44-year-old veteran, who has bid goodbye to all cricket except IPL, is sitting out after a calf strain he developed after undergoing strenuous training for over a month ahead of IPL 2026.
According to reports, Dhoni is expected to sit out of as many as six matches. While CSK have officially stated that Thala will be absent for the next two weeks, Dhoni may not return until the final week of April.
What’s Next?
Chennai Super Kings will hope to return to their winning ways, taking on Punjab Kings on Friday, April 3, at their home, MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, will lock horns with Gujarat Titans on Saturday at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
