Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Ambati Rayudu said that CSK should have shown better attack with the bat in their opening IPL 2026 clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Stating that CSK have a young squad, he further added that no excuses can be given for the poor effort. Notably, RR beat CSK by eight wickets at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Monday, March 30 as well.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Rayudu said: “Definitely, the conditions were tough, but a little application was needed. They had the batsman to do that. Unfortunately, the shot selection was not great, especially in the first 4-5 overs. That’s where the batting innings was lost. If they have lost two less wickets in that period, maybe they would have gone on to score 150 or 160, which would have been quite tough to chase on this pitch. A little more application was needed. You can say it’s a young side as well. Maybe they need a little bit of time to gel in and, you know, get the innings and the squad going, but no excuses to be honest,” he added.

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Speaking at the post-match presentation, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad added that he was not frustrated by CSK’s batting performance against RR. While talking about the defeat, he said that conditions were
tough for batting at the start, while also crediting RR bowlers for doing well.

“I felt the conditions at the start were really tough, especially when facing Jofra and Burger. They bowled brilliant lengths and even after that, to a medium-pacer, it was slightly tough. You could see even the spinners were getting some assistance as well. Yes, we would have been better in batting, we would have taken the game deep, showed some batsmanship, maybe take the game till 150-160. But, nowadays, you never know what’s a good score, so you just have to keep going,” Gaikwad said.