Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is facing harsh criticism from former India batter Manoj Tiwary after his team’s narrow six-run loss to Rajasthan Royals in their IPL 2025 match in Guwahati. Tiwary blasted Ruturaj Gaikwad for being too stubborn and unwilling to admit the team’s mistakes despite their back-to-back defeats in the ongoing IPL 2025.
Before suffering the heart-wrenching six-run loss to Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings suffered an embarrassing defeat of 50 runs at Chepauk against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was CSK’s first defeat at home against RCB since the first edition of the tournament in 2008.
Manoj Tiwary blasts Ruturaj Gaikwad for poor leadership in the IPL 2025
After their fresh setback, Manjo Tiwary was particularly upset with Gaikwad’s post-match comments, where the CSK skipper seemed to downplay the loss against RCB by expressing relief at losing by just 50 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Read Also: Watch: Riyan Parag insults IPL crew, throws phone away after winning 1st match as captain
And after the Guwahati game, Gaikwad said RR was on a cruise to post at least 210 runs, but they managed to restrict them to 182/9 and blamed the poor starts for the losses.
The former Indian batter-turned-commentator believes that these statements show that Gaikwad is feeling the pressure and struggling to accept responsibility for CSK’s recent failures in the tournament, as they also failed to make it to the playoffs last season as well under his captaincy.
I cannot digest Ruturaj Gaikwad’s post-match statements: Manoj Tiwary
Fans and cricket experts have started questioning Gaikwad’s leadership as the Chennai Super Kings are struggling to find form in IPL 2025. And Tiwary firmly believes that Gaikwad’s attitude and statements reflect poor leadership under pressure in the tournament.
Manoj Tiwary was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz, “The kind of statements Ruturaj Gaikwad has been giving after the matches, I cannot digest them. It seems like he is being too adamant and not accepting that mistakes are being made. In the last match against RCB, when MS Dhoni batted at No. 9, Ruturaj Gaikwad said he was happy that the side lost by just 50 runs. This is no statement to give.”
During the post-match presentation, Gaikwad jokingly downplayed the concerns over his batting position by saying that he still got to play in the first or second over despite not opening for the CSK in this season.
Read Also: Rohit Sharma’s coach places non-negotiable demand before BCCI amid Test retirement stories
Captain wants to speak his mind but cannot: Manoj Tiwary
On the other hand, there have been calls for promoting MS Dhoni in the batting order, but the Chennai skipper couldn’t speak his mind and is under pressure, according to Tiwary.
The cricket pundit signed off by saying, “The entire world was saying Dhoni should have batted higher. I think Captain Gaikwad is under too much pressure. I think he wants to speak his mind but cannot. Either he wants to defend the team because he is the captain.”
Notably, the Chennai Super Kings are currently in the seventh spot in the 2025 IPL points table with only two points from three games so far in the tournament. The five-time IPL champions will next face the Delhi Capitals on Saturday, April 5, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Source link
