Chennai Super Kings were rocked early on by Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League 2026 opener at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. After being sent in to bat first, CSK lost both of their openers, Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad and No.3 Ayush Mhatre pretty early on.
Both Samson and Ruturaj were dismissed for six runs each, with Nandre Burger cleaning up the former and Jofra Archer bamboozling the CSK skipper. Mhatre was dismissed for a golden duck when Burger nicked him behind off a short ball. CSK needed to call in Sarfaraz Khan as their Impact sub for Mhatre.
CSK were reeling at 19/3, and it got worse for them when Matthew Short chipped one to Yashasvi Jaiswal at mid-wicket with Sandeep Sharma striking. This left CSK in shambles at 41/4 after the first six overs.
Meanwhile, memes galore on social media with fans making fun of CSK's collapse. Some fans wanted CSK to cross 49, the lowest all-out IPL total that belongs to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Some vented their frustration seeing the five-time champions in such trouble.
Watch some memes on CSK's collapse here:
RR opt to bowl after winning toss
RR captain Riyan Parag confirmed that his team will be bowling first against the Super Kings. "We're bowling first. There's been a lot of rain here actually. So even though it is a red soil wicket, it's going to be a little moisture. So we want to try and extract that in the first few overs and then see how we go back into the game. (On leading RR) It feels nice. It feels very overwhelming. I've been with this franchise for eight years now. And then seeing the transition that has happened from me being a 17-year-old to being here as captain, I feel the support has been incredible.
"All my peers have been really supportive and very helping towards me. So hopefully a good campaign for us. I think the goal is to win the championship. With the trades and the auction, I think what we've tried to do is have a lot of smart cricketers, a lot of all-rounders and people who have different skills, so that when we get conditions like this or a flat wicket in Mumbai or a green top in Kolkata, we can adapt and play accordingly. So that's the plan. Our four overseas are Nandre, Jofra, Donovan and Shimron Hetmyer," Parag said at the toss.
"It was a no-brainer to bowl first actually. The wicket has been under the covers for a long time now, with overcast conditions as well, so we would have loved to bowl first, but neverheless, we'll look to start positively. (On having a lot of youth in the squad) Well, it was not something which we decided at the start of the cycle, but you saw that how the last year really went for us. And that is how we thought we'll go into the auction with some strategy behind it, whatever options that are available, what are the best options that are available and buy them into the team and buy them into the culture and let's hope that they go really well. So that was the thought process behind it and hopefully it will work. Our overseas players are Matt Short, Jamie Overton, Noor and Matt Henry. We're going with seven batters to start with. Hopefully if we get a start well, maybe the impact sub will come on later," CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said at the toss.
