Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar believes Chennai Super Kings (CSK) could struggle with the bowling during IPL 2026. CSK suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, April 3.
Batting first, the Super Kings were 209 for five, riding on Ayush Mhatre’s 73, along with useful cameos from Shivam Dube and Sarfaraz Khan. However, their bowlers could not defend the total as PBKS chased it down with five wickets in hand.
Gavaskar said CSK’s crushing bowling attack could put more pressure on the batsmen who may need scores around 225-230 to keep the team competitive.
| IPL 2026: CSK vs PBKS Highlights, Scorecard |
“From what we have seen so far, CSK’s biggest concern for the rest of the tournament will be their bowling. It means they may have to score around 225-230 regularly to give their bowlers a chance,” Gavaskar told Star Sports’ ‘Amul Cricket Live’.
‘CSK NEEDS TO ORDER BOWLING’
Gavaskar said that most of the teams in the competition boast of deep batting line-ups and therefore the Super Kings need to address their bowling issues as soon as possible.
“Most teams now have considerable batting depth, as we saw with Punjab Kings, where Marcus Stoinis came in at No. 7 and hit the ball with purely proper cricket strokes. With many sides batting deep, Chennai will have to get their bowling in order,” Gavaskar added.
The Super Kings finished bottom of the table last season, the first time they have finished there. They didn’t get off to the best of starts this time either, opening their campaign with an eight-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals, who were chasing 128 with 47 balls to spare. CSK then suffered another loss against PBKS and currently languish at the bottom of the table with a net rate of -2.562, the worst of all 10 teams.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
April 4, 2026 1:16 PM IST
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