Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2026 journey ended in Ahmedabad on Thursday, May 21, with a heavy 89-run loss to Gujarat Titans that effectively sealed CSK’s elimination while confirming GT a top-two finish. Chasing 229/4 after the Titans posted a commanding total, CSK were bowled out for 140 in just 13.4 overs, turning what had already been a difficult season into yet another disappointing chapter.
After the match, CSK bowling coach Eric Simons said the franchise would take positives from a campaign that repeatedly tested a mix of emerging and less experienced players. In his view, every individual departs the tournament with something to fix. “I think each player goes away with something to work on,” Simons said. “As a bowling coach, I put reports together for each guy to go for the next nine months to come back an improved player, like we saw Anshul (Kamboj) come back from last season.”
Simons also felt the season offered CSK a clearer picture of how they operate as a single unit, not just as separate batting and bowling units. “We know ourselves a lot better as a unit and we also know a lot of the individuals better, as to what they can and can’t do,” he added. He singled out Kartik as a standout for growth this year, while noting that the core group’s strengths were already well known. “Someone like Kartik has come along magnificently this season. We know what he’s about. Obviously the established players, we’ve always known who they were and what they are. But I do know that we’ve come away from this tournament understanding ourselves as a unit better and that stands us in good stead.”
Looking ahead to coaching leadership, Simons suggested the learning will be valuable for head coach Stephen Fleming as well. “I think that’s an important learning for Stephen (Fleming) as the head coach to know the balance of the side and how that looks,” he said. “When we play well, we’re a really good unit. So I think we go away with a lot of understanding of ourselves as a unit and how we need to play and how we have to play.”
Injuries, however, were a recurring theme in CSK’s inconsistency, and Simons pointed directly to the impact of losing Jamie Overton at a crucial point in the tournament. “Just as we were getting some momentum, we lose someone like Jamie Overton, who’s such a balancing factor in our team,” Simons said. “So important to our bowling attack through the middle, so we don’t have to make crazy changes. And then he can also bat at the back end of the innings.”
Simons also explained CSK’s batting reshuffle against Gujarat Titans, describing it as a deliberate response to GT’s pace and the way their bowlers have operated at the venue. Matt Short returned as an opener, while Ruturaj Gaikwad, Urvil Patel and Kartik Sharma were moved one spot down from their usual positions. “We looked at what GT have done on this ground, what lengths they’ve bowled and where they’ve bowled,” Simons said. “We met Short (Matt) as a particularly good player of short bowling. So we thought we’d counter it with someone like him at the top of the order. And I thought he batted really well. They bowled very well throughout the innings, throughout the tournament they’ve bowled well in their conditions. So that was the reason for the tinker at the top of the order just to get the balance right.”
When asked about whether MS Dhoni would feature in the 2027 season, Simons reiterated that the decision would rest with the veteran. “He has hit the ball so well. He obviously had a leg injury which made it very difficult for him to run. But only MS will know and MS will make the decision about when he’s ready and when he’s right,” Simons said. “If he knows he’s not, he won’t play. But if he is right, he will. He’ll make the decision in the best interest of the team.”
For Gujarat Titans, Rashid Khan described conditions in Ahmedabad as largely steady across both innings, while crediting GT’s bowlers for adjusting more quickly than CSK. “I think wicket didn’t change,” Rashid said. “It’s not a day and night match, it’s a night game. And the bowling attack we have, especially the fast bowling unit we have, have done a really great job throughout the tournament. On this wicket, if you hit the right area consistently with good pace, there is something for the bowler. I feel like we adjusted ourselves with the condition and the wicket quicker than them and I think that’s the reason behind why we won again.”
Rashid also highlighted the importance of following a plan with the new ball, warning against becoming overly reactive once batters begin finding boundaries. “On such wickets I feel like it’s something you have to bring the consistency and keep hitting the right area,” he said. “You will go for runs but there is reward. I think you can get wickets. Nowadays if someone hits a couple of boundaries straight away you go and have that death bowling in the mind, ‘how I’m going to get over this over.’ I feel like when you’re bowling in the early stage you need to be very aggressive and I think it clearly comes from us that whoever is bowling up the order just go for it and hit the right area consistently. If you do think about at that time to go to the death overs then you’re already losing it.”
