Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered their fourth defeat of the IPL 2026 on Saturday, losing against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Former five-time champions failed to chase 195, falling short by just 10 runs. Ayush Mhatre’s 13-ball 30 got them off to a flying start with 66 runs on the board in 4.3 overs. But others were unable to make any meaningful contribution.
Chennai Super Kings had a disastrous IPL 2026 auction where they invested heavily on two uncapped players and failed to address the issues that had plagued them. The effects of it are evident in this season. One of their major mistakes was acquiring Matthew Short, fully knowing that there is no room in the top order.
CSK played him in their season opener but left him out from the next three games. They opted to bring him back against SRH. It was a strategic move with three left-handers in the opposition’s top order.
The off-spin all-rounder conceded only four and nine runs in his first two overs. But greed backfired on CSK as Abhishek Sharma took him down for three fours and two sixes in the third over. Perhaps now teams will realise how overstated Abhishek’s issues against off-spin were.
You can at least justify his bowling against a left-hand heavy top order. His batting, on the other hand, played a bigger role in their loss. Short played 30 deliveries coming in to bat at number four in the fifth over, and managed to score only 34 runs at a strike rate of 113.
CSK required 8.41 runs per over when he walked in to bat. A fairly easy task in this era but Short’s knock sucked the momentum out of the chase. By the time he was dismissed, they needed 47 more in 26 deliveries. An abysmal innings that ended up costing them. But whose fault was it?
Short had little to no experience of playing in the middle order. Let alone middle order, Short has serious shortcomings to succeed even as an opener in Indian conditions. Asking him to take on a middle order role was an inexplicable decision from the think tank.
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The Super Kings have created a huge mess in the middle order. In Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Sarfaraz Khan, and Kartik Sharma, they have multiple batters who are suited to bat at number four but a few of them are forced out of position. Their big money signing Kartik was dropped after he failed to make a mark initially.
In this fundamentally flawed set-up, they simply do not have designated finishers. Dube has been tasked with that role but has a glaring weakness against short deliveries to succeed consistently. MS Dhoni’s injury has further compounded their issues.
So is there any solution to this? The answer is negative. CSK’s best chance of winning games is one of their top three batting long. But the top order will also need some tweaking after the in-form Ayush Mhatre suffered a hamstring injury, which could sideline him for a few weeks.
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