Chennai Super Kings (MY photo) Chennai Super Kings’ poor start to IPL 2026 continued with a heavy defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and former star Ravichandran Ashwin did not hold back as he reflected on the team’s struggles and his own difficult last season.CSK slumped to their third straight defeat after being outplayed at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB amassed a massive 250/3, powered by explosive knocks from Tim David (70* off 25), Rajat Patidar (48* off 19) and Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 29). In response, CSK never quite recovered from the early knocks despite resistance from Sarfaraz Khan and Prashant Veer, eventually being bowled out for 207.
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CSK is organizing a fan engagement event in Chepauk ahead of IPL 2026 As the defeat exposed deeper issues within the side, Ashwin reflected on his own decision to quit the IPL, admitting that he could have continued but was mentally drained after a disappointing campaign.“Any suggestions for sad songs? I’m watching the game from a neutral point of view, but remember I had an unfortunate season with CSK recently, it was disappointing for me personally. Honestly, in my mind I could have played more because emotionally I just didn’t have the bandwidth to play,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.Asked to revisit the phase, Ashwin made it clear that it remains a sensitive subject for him.“I don’t want to go there, it’s psychologically disturbing. It was very painful for me. I don’t want to go there. I discussed a bit and then I said, I started in Chennai, I’m finishing in my hometown, it’s fine. I myself decided to retire because it wouldn’t cause a headache for them (management) whether they keep me or fire me. They would still disappoint me. expectations, I had hope,” he added.Despite predicting an RCB win, Ashwin admitted that he expected a stronger performance from CSK, especially after the signs of improvement in their previous game.“I had expectations from today. I know I picked RCB to win because they have power. But I was banking on the improvement CSK showed in the last game. I had a bit of faith in RCB going into this game after the break. The way RCB played, they gave everyone a warning,” he said.CSK’s current approach has also come under scrutiny, especially their shift towards a younger team. Ashwin asked how effectively these players are nurtured in a high-pressure environment.“These young guys, you’ve got to give them good practice, you’ve got to give them intensity, you’ve got to give them the atmosphere from now on. How are they going to do that?” he remarked.The veteran spinner was also critical of certain tactical challenges, especially how the bowlers are being used. He pointed out that some players are being asked to perform skills that may not suit their strengths.“You can look at SA20 to plan against. Jamie Overton is not good at bowling yorkers. You force him to do that. You have to play to the player’s strengths. You force him to miss wide yorkers off the stumps. Tim David smashed them hard,” he said.With results going against them and questions growing over both strategy and execution, CSK now face an early season challenge to regroup and find direction before the campaign gets even further away.
