Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has got off to a poor start in their IPL 2026 opener against the Rajasthan Royals. The Yellow Army has looked far from their best at the Assam Cricket Association Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Monday (March 30). In a powerplay that looks more like a Day 1 Lord’s session than an IPL clash, Chennai Super Kings are reeling at 19/3 in 3.1 overs.

With no Mahi magic to save them and the top order failing yet again after the disappointment of the last season, fans are far from pleased. While Sanju Samson could not carry his T20 World Cup 2026 form into IPL 2026, U19 World Cup-winning captain Ayush Mhatre got out to a “Welcome back to the IPL” golden duck.

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CSK’s top order scores were all single digits:

Ruturaj Gaikwad: 6 (11)

Sanju Samson: 6 (7)

Ayush Mhatre: 0 (1)

Matthew Short: 2 (7)

Check out some of the memes here:

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RR vs CSK Lineups:

CSK: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed

Sarfaraz Khan used as Impact Sub for Ayush Mhatre.

RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma

RR yet to lose an Impact Sub.