Social media, particularly X (formerly Twitter), is heavily criticizing Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for his poor form and a specific incident during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) that allegedly led to a hamstring injury for young batter Ayush Mhatre. During the match, Ayush Mhatre was playing a fiery innings (30 off 12 balls) before pulling up with a hamstring injury while running for a "quick two" initiated by Gaikwad, leading to a long break for medical attention.
Users are blaming Gaikwad for "shattering the balance" of the side and forcing high-pressure, double-running on Mhatre during a personal poor run of form.Gaikwad has struggled significantly in IPL 2026, failing to score 30+ runs in all six of his innings, with scores including 28, 7, 15, 7, and a low score today.Fans are ironically calling for the 18-year-old Mhatre to take over opening duties from Gaikwad, noting that Mhatre’s aggressive approach (striking at 223+ in a previous game) better suits the powerplay.
The situation has created significant negative sentiment around Gaikwad's captaincy, with many calling his innings a "net negative" for the team.
What happened to Ruturaj ? - Wasted a review for wide when runs were coming well - Went for unnecessary second when Ayush was scoring boundaries well and that run eventually led to Ayush injury - Got out in the next over after Ayush’s dismissal #SRHvCSK #RuturajGaikwad
— Hariharan (@Hariharan_023) April 18, 2026
#RuturajGaikwad bhai Runs bana lo twitter pr PR krwa kr team me Jagan nhi milegi #CSKvsSRH #Dhoni #Sarfaraz #CSK #Thala
— Prophecy (@KhushendraKuma1) April 18, 2026
#ayushmhatre signaled #ruturajgaikwad that he cant play anymore this ODI player insisted him to complete the powerplay and pushed him beyond his limits suffering with an hamstring & got out the next over @ChennaiIPL #cskvssrh #ayushmhatre #iplseason2026
— Joshua Clifford (@JoshuaClif45416) April 18, 2026
Still finding A certain Fan base Who were Criticizing #Indian Cricket Team selection Board because They had not Included #RuturajGaikwad in #T20WorldCup Squad.#IPL#CSKvsSRH pic.twitter.com/MKY0jO7kVz
— Sumeet Industani (@SumeetThakulla) April 18, 2026
52-1(3) now 69-3 5.2 ayush injury changed everything 😭😭 We are cursed CSKians and our captain is so washed never steps up in big games my god #CSKvsSRH#AyushMhatre#RuturajGaikwad#CSK
— Gareeblal (@Levi20Man) April 18, 2026
If today csk lose then blame must ne on Rutu. He was the reason Ayush got injured. He must give strike to Ayush😡😡😡 and then got with lowest strike rate.@ChennaiIPL @Ruutu1331 #chennai #RuturajGaikwad pic.twitter.com/cTd93kSDBM
— john panyi (@Panyi_10) April 18, 2026
CSK struggle while batting even after restricting SRH to low score
Sunrisers Hyderabad set a challenging target of 195 for Chennai Super Kings today after a late collapse restricted them to 194/9. While CSK's bowlers performed well at the death, the batting unit is currently facing significant pressure. As of writing, CSK are 96/3 after 8 overs. They began with an aggressive intent but lost key wickets in the Powerplay that have checked their momentum.
Sanju Samson fell early to Nitish Kumar Reddy in the second over after scoring only 7 runs. Ayush Mhatre played a blistering cameo of 30 runs in 14 balls but was caught off Reddy's bowling.The captain's lean patch continued as he gloved a short ball from Eshan Malinga on his very first delivery. Currently, Matthew Short and Sarfaraz Khan are at the crease looking to steady the innings while maintaining a required run rate of 8.25.
