The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are all set to lock horns with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2026 match on Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Ahead of the match, CSK's skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad stated that it is necessary to allow the inexperienced players to make mistakes. He also said management needs to ensure they are in a good headspace. "Not forcing it [captaincy], to be honest. Looking at this team now, it is a very young team. The excitement is there but at the same time, there's a lot of difference between experienced players and inexperienced players. So, you have to allow them to make mistakes. You have to allow them to express themselves. You have to make sure that they are in a good headspace," he said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. The Super Kings suffered a loss by eight wickets in their first match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Despite the loss, the skipper was not fussed and said that the players need to embrace the opportunity to play for Chennai and try giving their best for the team. "I mean, [there is pressure to perform] from families, from the media, from team members, everyone [in the IPL]. So to cope with that and to just get into that IPL performance mode, sometimes it takes time. You try and share your experience with them, [but] it should not make them cautious. It should not make them go into a negative frame of mind. Making their debut for a franchise like CSK - it is a huge achievement for them. So, first thing is to enjoy it, embrace it and give your best, whatever it is there. If it happens, well and good; even if it does not happen, it is still a long journey for them," said Gaikwad. "They are still at the start of their careers. It is just about managing what are their strengths, and just navigating them to be fearless and not have any doubts about it," he signed off. IPL 2026, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: Full Squads Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar. Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shashank Singh, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Shreyas Iyer, Ben Dwarshuis, Vishnu Vinod (WK), Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Harpreet Brar, Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Cooper Conolly, Mitchell Owen, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Vishal Nishad. (With ANI Inputs)
03 April,2026 12:36 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentKolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday said that people talking about his strike rate in the IPL have "certain agenda" against him and are "jealous" about the amount of success he has achieved. Rahane's strike rate has been a talking point, more so as he opens for KKR in the IPL. "My strike rate, I think I have one of the best strike rates so far from 2020. People who are talking about me, probably not watching the game or they have certain agenda against me. They don't like me playing," the 37-year-old Rahane said at the post-match press conference after KKR lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 65 runs. "They don't like to watch me play. The amount of success which I got, I guess they are jealous about me. I am not too worried," said Rahane who made 8 off 10 balls in KKR's 161 all out in 16 overs while chasing 227. Rahane made 67 off 40 balls in KKR's opening match on March 29 when they lost by six wickets to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede. "You guys know what I am doing. Just one bad innings. Not a bad innings, but my intent was that sometimes as a batter you don't get that rhythm, you don't get that flow. "People who are talking, they don't understand the game and I think they want me to play a different kind of inning. They didn't expect that Ajinkya Dhane will basically improve his game this much. So I am happy they are talking about me, negative or positive either way. "I am really happy that they are talking, let them talk. But batting-wise, partner-wise, it's been amazing. We have a very good partnership in Mumbai." He said playing aggressive cricket in power play is risky but he knew what he was doing. "For six overs, you always look to go fearless cricket. Play fearless cricket with freedom. At times, you will struggle. That's okay. It's important to accept. But I know what I am doing. "I know what I did in the past and I back myself rather than thinking about it. Whoever is talking about me, let them talk," said the former India Test vice-captain. Rahane also captained KKR last season. He had a strike rate of 147.73 last season, scoring 390 runs from 13 matches. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:52 AM IST | Kolkata | PTINitish Kumar Reddy, who played a key role in Sunrisers Hyderabad's 65-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders, said he had been waiting for such a performance for a long time after his all-round show helped his side register their first win of the IPL season here on Thursday. Heinrich Klaasen (52) and Reddy (39) provided the late charge as SRH posted a challenging 226 for 8. Reddy (2/17) also chipped in with the ball as KKR were bowled out for 161 in 16 overs. "It's the match-winning performance I was waiting for a long time. Thankfully it came at the right time, and even my bowling, it's given me confidence. Just trying to be positive," Nitish said at the post match presentation. "There have been too many negative thoughts in my mind because the last season didn't go my way and I couldn't bowl last season. "I've worked really hard on my bowling and it's paying off, and that really makes you feel happy and I am happy now. Thanks to the trainers and physios, my body is fully fit now." Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan lauded the team effort but said fielding remains an area of concern. "Not happy with the way I played but really happy the team was committed. Everyone was putting in the energy they put that I asked for. I don't think the pitch was that good to be honest. "Head and Abhishek played a beautiful knock out there. The powerplay made the game easy for us because every batter got time to take singles and get a feel of the pitch. Great effort from them and Klaassy at the end. Team effort. "We all know Finn is dangerous but Harsh just bowled that ball and we were lucky to get that wicket." On Harsh Dubey and Shivang Kumar, Kishan said: "Harsh has been doing well for his domestic team and keeping his nerves down and keeping calm in tough situations. "I would like to talk about Shivang. Coming here, small ground. But his hard work paid off. He was in touch with all the coaches and trying to understand what works. You saw him bowl with big heart against someone like Rinku." On areas of improvement, Kishan said: "I think we are getting to know about the areas with each game. Fielding is an area. We can't give 20 runs in extras. We'll work on it as a team." KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said his team failed to build partnerships and hinted at a possible change in combination. "Yeah I thought we needed a couple of big partnerships. Guys who were set needed to take it deep. With the ball I thought we came back really well. In batting, when you are chasing a target, you need that partnership but we didn't get that. Second innings, I felt the ball was slightly stopping. Slower balls were gripping a lot more than first innings," he said. "We thought the wicket would get better but it got slower. But not making excuses. SRH did good use of the slower balls and the angles they used were really good. "Winning home games is really important so we have to go back to the drawing room and think about our combination, if we need an extra batter. But we don't need to think too much. Just one bad day." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:47 AM IST | Kolkata | PTINew Zealand T20I skipper Mitchell Santner on Thursday joined the Mumbai Indians squad here ahead of their Indian Premier League match against Delhi Capitals. The five-time winners Mumbai Indians will take on the Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Santner and England all-rounder Will Jacks were the only two players left to join Mumbai Indians, who had convincingly won their season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders last Sunday in Mumbai. The two overseas players, who had featured prominently for their respective teams in last month's T20 World Cup, had asked for an extended period before joining the MI squad. MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene had confirmed giving these two players extended time off for personal reasons. "With the guys who are joining (late are) obviously Mitch (Mitchell Santner) and Jacksy (Will Jacks). Both (had) asked for a slightly extended time for personal reasons and we were quite happy to go with that. But they will join the team pretty soon," Jayawardene told reporters on eve of the game against KKR. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:45 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndia T20I skipper and Mumbai Indians star Suryakumar Yadav showed off his dance moves at the recent MI Stage Show, mimicking the iconic steps pulled off by the character Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna) to the song FA9LA in the superhit Bollywood film Dhurandhar. As seen in this series of screengrabs from MI’s recent Instagram post, Yadav rocks as he steps onto the stage with the same swagger that Dakait oozed in the hit flick. MI captioned the post: “Ye dada ka style hai, full Dhurandhar mode.” The post received a whopping 3.5 million views. and over three lakh ‘likes.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mumbai Indians (@mumbaiindians)
03 April,2026 10:08 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentMumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ajinkya Naik, who has had multiple meetings with government officials in recent times, has revealed that the proposed new cricket stadium near Navi Mumbai International Airport will be up and running within three years. “I have met CIDCO Managing Director Vijay Singhal yesterday [on Thursday], we’ve had multiple meetings earlier also. It will take six months for the paperwork and planning and we are expecting the new stadium to be built within the next two-and-half to three years. The stadium will have an indoor cricket academy and multiple grounds for local club cricket within the stadium premises,” Naik told mid-day on Thursday. When Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis named some of the Wankhede stands after India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma, former Test skipper Ajit Wadekar and ex-ICC, BCCI and MCA chief Sharad Pawar last May, he had promised that his government would allot land to MCA to build a new stadium in the city which will accommodate one lakh spectators. “MCA’s new stadium will have a capacity of one lakh. It’ll be the second biggest stadium in the country [after Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad which has a capacity of 1,30,000] and built across 60 acres. The location is ideal as it will be just 25 to 30 minutes away from the new Navi Mumbai International Airport and will take just 20 minutes from Thane and around 40 minutes from Mumbai to reach,” added Naik. 60 acresArea allotted for new stadium in Navi Mumbai
03 April,2026 09:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureAjit Puthran, a former Dadar Union Sporting Club pace bowler, passed away on Thursday. Puthran, 62, was a terrific Kanga League bowler and teamed up well with the late Ramesh Rajde in the 1980s, tormenting the best sides in the premier division of the monsoon league. Both were bespectacled. He was also known for his exploits in tennis ball cricket.
03 April,2026 09:43 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentSri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Thushara on Thursday sought a court order to secure his playing rights in the ongoing IPL after the country's cricket board refused to grant him a No Objection Certificate due to "failed fitness tests". The 31-year-old, who is contracted to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, filed a case in the Colombo District Court, seeking an order directing Sri Lanka Cricket to issue the NOC. The case has been fixed for hearing on April 9. According to local media reports, the player with 30 T20 international appearances for his country since 2022, has pleaded that his contract with the SLC ended on March 31 and he had no desire to seek an extension. He said he had told the SLC about his wish to end his international career. Therefore, denial of NOC citing failed fitness tests should be set aside by the court. SLC had made fitness tests mandatory to be picked for the national team. However, Thushara said his fitness levels were never found wanting and he had been allowed to play at similar levels by the SLC previously. Thushara was acquired by RCB for Rs 1.6 crore in 2025. He played one game during the team's title-winning campaign last season. He has snared 174 wickets in 137 T20s overall at an average of 21.25. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 09:41 AM IST | Colombo | PTIChennai Super Kings will need to improve significantly in all departments of the game to trouble a potent Punjab Kings in their first home game of the Indian Premier League here on Friday. It was a uninspiring start for CSK in their opener against Rajasthan Royals. CSK, now a team full of youngsters, did not get anything right in Guwahati and would simply like to leave that comprehensive defeat behind in a long tournament like the IPL. While the injured MS Dhoni did not travel to Guwahati, he could be back in the dugout as a sounding board to captain Ruturaj Gaikwad while he continues to nurse a calf strain. Sanju Samson, their biggest signing for the season, did not last long on his CSK debut and would be looking to make a big impact in front of home fans. Samson scored six off 11 deliveries against his former franchise RR at a strike-rate of 85.71. The explosive opener, who was at the forefront of India’s recent T20 World Cup triumph with three impactful knocks at the fag end of the tournament (97* vs WI, 89 vs England, 89 vs NZ), will look to find his rhythm against PBKS. On the bowling front, the likes of Matt Henry and Noor Ahmad were made to look ordinary by the sheer belligerence of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. They would be itching to bounce back from that pasting. CSK take on last year’s finalists PBKS, who have become a formidable unit in the Shreyas Iyer-Ricky Ponting era. PBKS have found an able No. 3 in Cooper Connolly who anchored a tense chase against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday night. Rs 18 crCSK’s signing amount for Sanju Samson 85.71Samson’s strike-rate in his CSK debut against RR SixNo. of runs scored by Sanju Samson against RR This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 09:38 AM IST | Chennai | AgenciesFollowing LSG’s opening defeat to DC at Lucknow on Wednesday night, team owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen in an animated discussion with skipper Rishabh Pant and head coach Justin Langer, leading to a lot of chatter on social media. It instantly brought back memories of Goenka’s altercation with then skipper KL Rahul when the team suffered a 10-wicket hammering against SRH in IPL 2024. This time though Goenka quickly doused any scope of a fire with a message on X. This is a long season, and moments like these are part of building something meaningful. I have full confidence in our captain and the team to respond with strength. To our fans, thank you for your support at Ekana today, we will come back stronger. The story of @LucknowIPL this… pic.twitter.com/iQvN8u4g1d — Dr. Sanjiv Goenka (@DrSanjivGoenka) April 1, 2026 “This is a long season, and moments like these are part of building something meaningful. I have full confidence in our captain and the team to respond with strength. To our fans, thank you for your support at Ekana today [Wednesday], we will come back stronger. The story of @LucknowIPL this season is far from written,” he wrote to his near 20,000 followers on the social media platform.
03 April,2026 09:35 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentTeams make plans, but fate ultimately determines the outcome. This adage perfectly fits the Lucknow Super Giants think-tank’s decision to promote skipper Rishabh Pant as an opener, a role he has seldom performed. But even before that could be tested in the IPL match against Delhi Capitals here on Wednesday, fate intervened. Pant was run-out at the non-striker’s end. That was the last thing the team wanted, and jolted by the blow, the famed batting line-up never flourished and the home side managed just 141. That was never going to be defendable, despite LSG’s pacers making an early fight of it. Pant had opened only once last season, when Mitch Marsh was unavailable, scoring 21 off 18 against Gujarat Titans, and on Wednesday, he managed seven off nine balls. Thus, after the six-wicket defeat, there were questions galore for the team management, including owner Sanjiv Goenka, who was seen having a now-customary animated discussion with Pant and head coach Justin Langer after the match. The moot questions for the Lucknow team management are: (i) Was it worth breaking the Aiden Markram-Marsh opening pair that worked so well last season. (ii) Was it worth dropping Nicholas Pooran way down the order? Talking to the official broadcasters, Pant justified the move: “The idea was very simple. Pooran is taking charge in the middle overs. He’s not batting in the top order anymore because I’m batting up.” When asked if the team management would rethink his role as an opener, he said, “It’s a 50-50 call. But [you’ll] definitely see me in the top three.” Pant also admitted that a batting collapse forced their hand into bringing in all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed as the Impact Player in the first innings itself, which meant they were unable to utilise promising leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi. In the final analysis, LSG did feel the absence of Rathi, as Shahbaz and Markram conceded 29 runs in two overs that swung the momentum DC’s way, with UP boy Sameer Rizvi playing a fine, match-winning innings of 70 not out. SixNo. of times Rishabh Pant has opened the batting in the IPL; he has scored 132 runs @ 22.00 FiveNo of consecutive wins for DC vs LSG 286Total number of runs scored in Lucknow on Wednesday — the lowest match aggregate involving LSG and DC
03 April,2026 09:32 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh SuriADVERTISEMENT
