Chennai Super Kings Suffer Third Straight Loss; Ruturaj Gaikwad Blames Dropped Catch of Virat Kohli

The Chennai Super Kings suffered their third consecutive loss in the IPL 2026. Playing their first innings at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Sunday, the RCB scored 250/3. CSK managed to score just 207 in 19.4 overs, hence losing the match by 43 runs. According to Ruturaj Gaikwad, captain of the Chennai Super Kings, the outcome of the game could have been different had they caught Virat Kohli early.

After the hat-trick of defeats, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said, "To be honest, I was surprised myself. Sarfaraz, Prashant Veer, Jamie Overton, and to a lesser extent, Shivam Dube, fought brilliantly. If I had contributed better at the top of the order, we might have achieved the target."

Virat Kohli scored 28 runs from 18 balls, adding 37 runs with Phil Salt. Meanwhile, CSK dropped his catch. Khalil Ahmed came to bowl the third over of the innings. Kohli tried to hit the third ball, but the ball rose high. Shivam Dube, standing at mid-on, was under the ball. It was an easy catch, but he couldn't take it. Gaikwad said, "If we had taken Kohli's early catch, the match might have turned in our favor. But we had the match in our hands until the 13th-14th over, and the momentum shifted from there."

Meanwhile, RCB captain Rajat Patidar said, "It feels great to win the match." When you play good cricket, there's a unique sense of satisfaction within the team. Initially, the ball was coming in a bit slow, but the way Phil Salt and Virat Kohli played their innings was outstanding. After that, I thoroughly enjoyed the way the team turned the game around, hitting sixes from both the dugout and the non-striker's end.

He said, "My mindset was very clear. As long as I'm at the crease, I try to put pressure on the bowler. I consider myself fortunate to have the team's full support, which allowed me to play freely. The atmosphere in the team is currently excellent, with all the players in a good frame of mind and excited for the next match."

Praising Tim David, who played an unbeaten innings of 70 runs off 25 balls, the captain said, "He's an expert and, in my opinion, one of the best finishers in the world. He also performed brilliantly last year. He's very consistent and has an excellent ability to finish games. He ranks among the top finishers I've seen."