Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has blamed the ‘nature’ of the T20 format for team captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s poor form in IPL 2026, calling on the rest of the team to ‘cover for him’ until he is back amongst the runs.
Gaikwad has managed only 63 runs in five innings this season. On more than one occasion, he has looked short on intent, deliberately playing cautiously, as if taking the pressure off the ‘anchor’, which reflects in his season strike-rate of 105. One reason for that could have been CSK‘s largely untested middle-order in MS Dhoni and Dewald Brevis’ absence at the season’s start, but it didn’t change even after the latter came back.
“We’re working hard on several things,” Fleming said in the press conference ahead
of CSK’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. “The team, the captaincy, and the player. He’s going fine. He hasn’t had the returns that he would like, and he’s working hard on that. But that can be the nature of T20. He’s training well. He’s hitting the ball well. He has a positive mindset. He just hasn’t got away yet. But we’ve seen over the years that he’s a quality player.”
“If we can cover for him for a few games and he comes into form, then that’s the way an IPL can go. Very rarely does someone dominate the whole way through. But if we have players coming in and out of form and they dovetail, then that’s a good thing. But he’s working hard, and he’s got a lot of support around him,” Fleming added.
While the pressure on Gaikwad’s captaincy has eased after CSK’s back-to-back wins in the tournament, there’s a dark cloud hanging over his place in the team. That’s especially true with Dhoni set to return soon, with no real place for him to fit in.
Ruturaj Gaikwad to shift to number 3?
One of the easy suggestions made for Gaikwad’s woes has been asking him to shift down to number three, thanks to his comfort against spin, which would come with the bonus of Ayush Mhatre batting in the powerplay. For some reason, CSK have refused to use that tactic.
“We talk about everything,” Fleming said. “We’re always looking at different ways. You’ve got to back your captain to the hilt, and Ruturaj’s form will come good. But he’s too good a player not to contribute in this line-up,” he added.
