Chennai Super Kings (CSK) did not have “any idea” how the Chepauk pitch was going to play, in their day game against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has said. CSK were reduced to 26 for 3 in the fifth over after they were asked to bat and they struggled their way to 158 for 7. Gaikwad said it was “too late” by the time they adapted to the conditions, which resulted in an eight-wicket loss.

“Last three games we played here, I think we kind of got to know how it will play or we were in a situation where we felt, okay, 60% is going to play like this, 70% is going to play like this,” Gaikwad told the host broadcaster. “But this game, we didn’t have any idea about how it will play, and by the time we wanted to adapt and change, we were, I think, too late. And then after that we tried, but it just didn’t come off.”

CSK have so far batted first in all their games at home in IPL 2026, and on the previous three occasions they had posted 209, 212 and 192, all while batting first. Only the first of those wasn’t enough as Punjab Kings had chased it down, but in the other games CSK had defended the totals.

“For the medium pacers, it was holding a bit, [and] it was two-paced,” Gaikwad said of the pitch. “Even the bounce was a bit up and down. But I felt if not [for] too many wickets up front, we would have still got to maybe 170 or 180; that would have been still competitive. But I really doubt that. Even after the powerplay, they just still kept coming, and it was a bit difficult to play some shots.”

After opening the batting with Sanju Samson, Gaikwad watched all seven wickets fall from the other end as he played through the innings to score 74 off 60 balls. In comparison to CSK’s powerplay score of 28 for 3, GT raced to 55 for 0 before comfortably chasing down the target.

Gaikwad also highlighted the unpredictability of the pitch, and said he struggled to get going. Despite trying to up the ante, he said the unexpected pace at which the balls came to him hindered his intent.

“Well, at the first time-out [when CSK were 37 for 4], when Flem [Stephen Fleming, head coach] came out, I spoke to him that I’m trying to be positive, I’m trying to be aggressive,” Gaikwad said. “But sometimes [when] I’m waiting for a full-pace delivery, the ball is popping up a bit, and sometimes I’m waiting for slow balls or the ball to come at a pace which the last delivery came [at], but it just came off a bit too quick or [with] a bit more bounce or a bit less bounce.

“So I told him I’m trying to change [my approach] as much as possible, but it’s just not happening right at the moment, it was really difficult to change every ball whether what would happen. So it was just about judging or expecting that it’ll come good, it’ll come good, but it just didn’t come good.”

The loss against GT was CSK’s fifth in eight games, and it has left them at sixth on the points table for now. They now have a five-day break before they host Mumbai Indians on May 2.