IPL 2026: Broken Fortress Chepauk Provides Glimpses of Rebuilding Hope With Hints of turn

Blazing powerplay and a slowdown after that is a common sight in Chepauk. The new ball is ideally the easiest to play with, but the ball stops and holds as it gets older. The last few years, though, have seen none of that in Chepauk. Docile pitches, no swing, no spin, dew, and chasing paradises. Out of 93 games at the venue, 52 were won by the side batting first.

CSK, in the first five years of the IPL, won 12 tosses at Chepauk and chose to bat all twelve times to indicate the benefits of going first there. A venue where 160 was defendable, though, turned into one where even 200 is not safe. The last two games, though, are seeing some changes. Today in particular, CSK were blazing. They made 72 in the power play and looked set for something north of 220. It was the kind of start Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay used to nail back in the day.

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The next fourteen overs, though, went away from the traditional IPL template in other venues. CSK struggled and huffed and puffed their way. The next fourteen overs saw them go at hardly 8 an over. They ended with 192, which in today's league is not up to par with the score level. The odds were against them.

A score below 200 was yet to be defended this year, and the stage was set for one of the best defending grounds to show that scores can be defended here, too. Chepauk was at its best. The powerplay had some good new-ball bowling, but it was the middle-overs where Chepauk came into its own. Noor Ahmed and Akeal Hossein combined, and the choke began. It was not Dhoni behind the stumps this time, but it was Sanju Samson who was pretty vocal as well.

8 overs for 47 runs is what Noor Ahmed and Akeal Hossein conceded. 4 wickets between them. Noor Ahmed, struggling up until the last game, was at his best. He ran through the middle order single-handedly with two wickets, including the one of Cameron Green off consecutive deliveries. After a good period, possibly for the first time since 2019, the CSK spin choke was on at Chepauk.

Unlike in 2019 or even in the Qualifier in 2023, though, this pitch did not have as much spin. It had a hint of grip with the ball holding ever so slightly. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy showed the way, and it was the CSK spinners who used their home conditions to good effect, giving CSK a second win at home.

With little support, the fortress was on the wane, but now, with a hint of grip, the fortress is showing glimpses of being rebuilt. There is still a long way to go, and the docile nature of surfaces makes it unlikely to continue. Other sides are stacked with better spinners as well, making it even more challenging, but CSK will believe now that they have hope.