Mukesh Choudhary (IPL Photo) NEW DELHI: A deeply emotional night at the Wankhede Stadium saw Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad dedicate his side’s emphatic 103-run win over Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026 to teammate Mukesh Choudhary, who played despite the recent death of his mother.CSK players wore black armbands as a tribute, turning a dominant performance into a poignant moment of solidarity and resilience.
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‘Hats off to him’: Gaikwad on Mukesh’s courage
Gaikwad was visibly moved as he spoke of Mukesh’s efforts under difficult circumstances.“Pretty tough on him. Hats off to him, coming into that situation, it takes a lot mentally. He came back for the team, for the franchise, because he knew we needed him. All the credit goes to him. We all wanted to be there for him and we went for him,” he said.Reiterating the emotional weight of the win, he added: “Pretty tough on him (Mukesh Choudhary), I’d dedicate this win to him. All credit to him. Everyone pitched in and wanted to be there for him.”Mukesh responded with a disciplined spell of 1/31, striking early to remove Quinton de Kock and set the tone for CSK’s dominance.
‘We’re starting to click’: CSK captain on team effort
The victory itself was built on a complete team performance. Gaikwad revealed that the decision to bat first was instinctive.“I feel good. I was still 50-50 with the pitch. My gut feeling was that we should bat first because it was a bit green but also a bit dry. We had to judge it in the first two overs. Sanju and I said it wasn’t going well so somewhere around 200 would be good,” he explained.That assessment proved spot on as Sanju Samson smashed a “magnificent” unbeaten 101 to power CSK to 207/6.“Sanju also played a great knock. He was in fantastic touch. Everyone chipped in really well… even the twenty one helped,” Gaikwad said.He also praised the bowling unit, adding: “And then Akeal and Noor have been doing well. Our bowling has been improving since our earlier games. I feel like we are just starting to click.”Spinners Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad led the charge as Mumbai were bundled out for 104.
