Watch: Ruturaj Gaikwad smashes Arshad Khan for successive towering sixes during CSK vs GT clash in IPL 2026

After the end of 11 overs during the first innings of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash between the Chennai Super Kings and the Gujarat Titans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the home side was limping at 45/4 and looked to be bottled by the visiting pace attack on a dry surface.

The home captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, struggled to get going, to find himself on 19 runs off 32 balls. That was his position despite opening his account with two successive boundaries. Moreover, the heat of the Southern city affected the opening batter. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad nails Arshad Khan for successive sixes in IPL 2026

On the very first delivery of the 13th over of the innings, Gaikwad came up against Arshad Khan. The right-handed batter walked down the track and went for a wild swing. He was hit flush on the hand as the physio rushed onto the ground to check the batter, who was in serious pain.

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But the Maharashtra batter had had enough of that struggle. On the very next delivery, he picked the pitched-up delivery and swung across the line to smash it over the deep mid-wicket region for a huge six. He cut the next delivery to the point fielder, failing to find the gap.

On the fourth ball of the over, the left-arm seamer banged it short on the stumps as Gaikwad swiveled and pulled it flat to the deep square leg region for another six. He welcomed Jason Holder’s next over with another six, hammering the pull over the long leg.

See Also: Watch: Kagiso Rabada dismisses Sanju Samson for 11 during CSK vs GT clash in IPL 2026

Just when it seemed like he was struggling to get going on a tough surface, Gaikwad showed his class and celebrated his half-century off 49 balls. He remained unbeaten on 74 runs off 60 balls with the help of six boundaries and four over boundaries.

CSK get late flourish to finish with 158/7

In this process, Gaikwad became the fourth batter to cross 100 sixes for CSK in the IPL. The list is led by MS Dhoni’s 234 sixes, followed by Suresh Raina’s 180 and Shivam Dube’s 106. Along with Gaikwad, Kartik Sharma made a solid contribution of 15 runs with three boundaries in nine balls.

On the other hand, Jamie Oveton clubbed 18 runs off the penultimate over against Arshad to provide them with the late acceleration. Kagiso Rabada was the peak of the bowlers for GT with 3/25 in four overs.

Brief Scores (at the time of writing): GT 102/1 (S Sudharsan 51*, Noor Ahmed 1/20) vs CSK 158/7 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 74*, Kagiso Rabada 3/29) 

Fans react to Gaikwad’s knock vs GT in IPL 2026

Here is how the fans reacted to Gaikwad’s fine knock under pressure against Gujarat in the IPL 2026-