Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans have expressed their anger on social media after the team missed out on Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 play-off qualification yet again. CSK seemed to have revived their campaign before three consecutive defeats in the league stage saw them crash out of the top-four race. While the entire team failed to click as a unit, the man who has faced the most criticism-and indeed, abuse-is skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. Seeing fans cross the line in their criticism of the CSK skipper, Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his disappointment, advising supporters to move on from the expectations they held when MS Dhoni was the captain.
Ruturaj did not have the best of campaigns this season. He not only struggled for consistency but also scored runs at a strike rate that raised questions over his intent. The CSK skipper finished the season with 337 runs to his name at a strike rate of 123.44 and an average of 28.08. Uniimpressed by his performances, some CSK fans went as far as abusing him on social media.
Ashwin, speaking in a video on his YouTube channelslammed the fans targeting Ruturaj, while admitting that this is the new reality for the franchise.
“I will maintain, Ruturaj is a good player, yes. Sometimes, people abuse so much, I don’t know the reason. Ruturaj Gaikwad is not that kind of a player. It can happen to anyone. Time can change for anyone. Take Ishan Kishanfor example. If you remember, Mumbai Indians spent a lot of money to get Ishan Kishan in the auction, but he didn’t do much at the Mumbai Indians. SRH also invested in him, but he is batting well for SRH. So, time changes for everyone, but it doesn’t make any sense to, you know, abuse any players or anything like that,” Ashwin said.
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The former CSK spinner also urged fans not to harbor the same expectations of the team as they did when Dhoni used to lead the side.
“Chennai has not been one of the better teams, let’s understand that. Time has come. Dhoni made everyone… Dhoni and CSK have made everyone habituated over the last 18 years that we will win, we will reach the play-offs, it’s that easy. It is not like that now. There are 10 teams now. Every team plays good cricket. Anyone can beat anyone on their day, and Chennai this time won against all the teams below them, who are at the bottom of the table. So, they have some yards to go, but they have a lot of promise in their team,” Ashwin stressed.
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