Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Ishan Kishan hit 79 off 46 balls with eight fours and three sixes to power SRH at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium,in Hyderabad on Friday, May 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Manish Pandey plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 T20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, in Kolkata, West Bengal on May 20, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Chennai Super Kings’ head coach Stephen Fleming acknowledged that Ruturaj Gaikwad is still a work in progress as captain after the side’s playoff hopes in the ongoing IPL were left massively dented by a loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai.

CSK suffered a five-wicket defeat to SRH on Monday (May 18, 2026), leaving their playoff hopes dependent on a complex set of mathematical possibilities.

They now face a must-win final league game against Gujarat Titans on Thursday (May 21), while depending on other results to fall in their favour. SRH, on the other hand, sealed their playoff berth on Tuesday night.

“Ruturaj will be going through that (transition) as part of his development. It’s a big transition from having one of the best captains (in MS Dhoni) at cricket scene running the franchise for such a long time to a new captain,” Fleming said of 29-year-old Gaikwad, who has been CSK skipper for three seasons.

“So it’s going to take a little bit of time. And he’s doing a good job. He has a massive amount of respect with this group of players. And he’s learning all the time and putting that into play.

“So going forward, I have no doubt he’ll be a fine captain for this franchise,” added the New Zealander.

Gaikwad is averaging a modest 29 this season, managing only two half centuries in the 13 matches so far.

Fleming said the season has not been kind to the team, conceding that it was already a step behind other sides due to the changes made over the past year.

CSK overhauled their squad following a disappointing 2025 season, releasing mainstays such as Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra, and Devon Conway, while bringing in young, attacking talent, including Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, and Urvil Patel.

Rajasthan Royals’ Sanju Samson was brought in to strengthen the top order, a move that necessitated parting ways with stalwart Ravindra Jadeja and overseas all-rounder Sam Curran.

“Yeah, it’s been a challenge, we knew coming into the season we were a little bit behind in terms of other teams. We had made a lot of changes halfway through the first year of the cycle and then we made more changes going into this year.

“It would have been great to have started well, but we started poorly…and we just haven’t been accurate enough.” Fleming, however, said he was pleased that the team had fought back after a poor start to the season.

“And then I was really proud of the recovery… to get back into the mix was really satisfying. There’s some good performances from players, these young players that have emerged.” He said the team’s rebuilding and change in strategy were also affected by injuries to several players, which halted the momentum.

“There was a style of cricket that we were developing that was working. But we had injuries to key players, which sort of stopped a bit of momentum and made us a little bit unsettled in terms of having to keep changing the team.

“Our performances under pressure in the last couple of games just haven’t been quite up to it. If we’d been a little bit more accurate, a little bit more positive, then things could have been different.

Fleming said that the presence of Dhoni in the dugout, despite him not featuring in a single game while recovering from a lingering calf strain, has been a source of motivation.

“I know there’s been a lot of talk about it (when Dhoni will play), but MS has been around a lot this year, which has been really important for the team, for a lot of young players in continuity. So he’s been a big part. He hasn’t played, but he’s still had a big influence on the team.”

Speaking about his future after another underwhelming season, the long-standing CSK coach said it was for the management to decide.

“There’s a lot of good things we’ve done. We’ve introduced some new players that will be hopefully generation players for CSK, but I know we’re judged on results. So, that’s a management call. Not mine.”

Published – May 19, 2026 12:21 pm IST

File picture of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Dinesh Karthik acknowledging the crowd during an IPL game.
| Photo Credit: AP

Royal Challengers Benglauru’s star finisher Dinesh Karthik might well have had played his last game in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 38-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was given a guard of honour by his teammates after RCB’s fairytale run ended in disappointment when the side crashed out of the tournament in the second eliminator on May 22.

After Rajasthan Royals inflicted a four-wicket defeat on Bengaluru in the Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Karthik took off his gloves and acknowledged the fans who were on their feet to applaud the veteran for his contributions throughout the season.

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Soon a moment to savour for the RCB fans unfolded, as the franchise’s marquee star and modern-day cricketing icon Virat Kohli embraced Karthik as he struggled to fight back his emotions.

While Karthik hasn’t yet officially announced his retirement from the IPL, he dropped hints during the tournament that the current season could be his last.

As he walked back towards the dressing room, Karthik received a guard of honour from the RCB players. He was a crucial figure for RCB, especially in the death overs in a turbulent season. His influential cameos at the end played a role in inspiring the team to an unprecedented spot in the playoffs.

If this season ends up as the last one for Karthik, he will finish his IPL career with 4,842 runs in 257 matches, studded with a whopping 22 fifties.

In his illustrious IPL career that spanned over 17 years, Karthik featured for six franchises. He made his debut in the inaugural season in 2008 with the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). He made a switch to Punjab in 2011 and, thereafter, went on to play for the Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders and the RCB.

He ended the 2024 season with 326 runs in 15 matches at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 187.36.

The main entrance Pavilion entry of the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad shows all four Playoff Captain posters at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, on May 20, 2024
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad kicked off their IPL campaign against each other in a high-scoring thriller in which the former prevailed by four runs. The match was a sneak peek into the game style the two outfits would employ this season, prioritising a no-holds-barred approach to batting.

Nearly two months after that game, KKR and SRH — who finished first and second in the group stages, respectively — will square off again in Qualifier-1 of the IPL Playoffs at the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 21.

Two-time champion KKR was the first to qualify for the Playoffs and seal the top-two berth, posting nine wins. The team’s inspired decision to let Sunil Narine open the innings has worked wonders, as the West Indian all-rounder has been at his marauding best. Narine and his opening partner Phil Salt — the top two run-getters for the side — have set the tone by giving blazing starts. It has allowed the middle and lower order the freedom not to hold back.

Even as the batters have hogged the limelight, the bowling attack has been equally effective. The spin duo of Narine (15 wickets, Eco: 6.63) and Varun Chakravarthy (18, 8.34) have led the way, giving crucial breakthroughs while being economical.

The only area of concern for Shreyas Iyer’s men will be Salt’s absence, who has returned to England for national duty. Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is set to take his place in the line-up but hasn’t played a game this season. KKR’s last two games have been washed out, and it will be interesting to see if the long break—the team last played on May 11—will hurt its momentum.

Meanwhile, Sunrisers sealed a place in the top-two following its four-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Sunday. Like KKR, SRH has also piggybacked on its openers, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma—who have scored 1000 runs between them—to reach the Playoffs. However, bowling remains a concern for the 2016 champion as it has the second-worst economy rate during the middle and death-overs.

The pitch in Ahmedabad has seen four totals above 200 four times in the last six matches, and Tuesday’s contest promises to be another high-scoring one in the battle between the two most destructive batting units.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Allah Ghazanfar.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Agarwal.

Match starts at 7:30 p.m. IST.

Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill, right, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins, left, walk after their IPL match was abandoned in Hyderabad on May 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 16 qualified for the Indian Premier League playoffs after rain washed out their IPL match against Gujarat Titans in Hyderabad without a ball being bowled.

SRH thus became the third team to make the cut following Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, who are currently occupying the top two places in the standings.

The Sunrisers received one point to take their tally to 15 points with one match to go. They will face Punjab Kings, who have already been eliminated, on May 19 in their last league assignment.

GT, the 2023 runners-up and 2022 champions, were knocked out of the playoff race after their previous match was also abandoned due to rain. They thus end the season with 12 points from 14 matches.

The toss didn’t happen at scheduled time of 7 p.m. due to rain and wet outfield. The rain intensified before settling into a steady shower as the covers and outfield stayed covered.

The cut-off time for a five-over game was 10.56 p.m., which meant the drizzle needed to stop for mop-up to begin by around 10.15 p.m. but with rain showing no signs of abating, the official decided to abandon the match.

It is the second game to be called off in this IPL, because of rain and wet outfield.

Four teams — Chennai Super Kings (14), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (12), Delhi Capitals (14) and Lucknow Super Giants (12) — are still in fray for the battle for the last spot.

If LSG win against Mumbai Indians on May 17, they will move to 14 points to stay mathematically alive but CSK will seal the spot if they beat RCB or the game is washed out on May 18.

If RCB beat CSK by at least 18 runs or 11 balls to spare then they will grab the fourth available spot on the basis of net run-rate as they would be on 14 points, same as DC, CSK and LSG (if they win).