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CSK came to Guwahati carrying the weight of a revamped squad, a resting leader in MS Dhoni and the considerable expectation that Sanju Samson's arrival would signal a fresh and fearless identity for a franchise that ended 2025 with a wooden spoon.

None of that materialised. On a pitch that had retained moisture from recent rain and offered swing and bounce far beyond what the CSK top order appeared prepared for Rajasthan Royals bowled Chennai out for what is likely to be a sub-130 total.

Powerplay was a disaster for CSK. The middle overs were a salvage operation that barely worked. And Ravindra Jadeja returning to haunt the team that traded him away provided the cruelest footnote of an evening that CSK fans will want to forget quickly and in its entirety.

IPL 2026: A powerplay that fell apart from the first over

The problems began almost immediately. Sanju Samson opened the batting alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and managed a streaky boundary off Jofra Archer in the first over but never looked settled. Nandre Burger arrived in the second over and cleaned him up with a full-length delivery at 143 kph that moved away late and sent the off-stump cartwheeling.

Samson walked back for 6 off 7 balls on his CSK debut having faced a team that knew every tendency in his game. Gaikwad followed not long after, bowled by Archer for 6 off 11 as the captain looked equally out of rhythm against a pace attack exploiting a fresh Guwahati surface to full effect.

Ayush Mhatre was out for a golden duck, Burger again the wicket-taker, and Matthew Short at number four chipped a soft catch to midwicket for 2. By the end of the powerplay CSK were 41 for 4 and the match was already tilting heavily towards Rajasthan.

Ravindra Jadeja returns and finishes what Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger started

If the powerplay was the opening wound then Ravindra Jadeja was the final twist of the knife. Traded to Rajasthan Royals in the deal that brought Samson to Chennai Jadeja came on in the middle overs with CSK attempting to rebuild through Shivam Dube and Sarfaraz Khan who had been brought in as the Impact Player substitute after Mhatre's golden duck made the decision unavoidable.

Jadeja had Sarfaraz trapped lbw for 17 then returned to have Dube holed out at deep midwicket for 6 and later clean bowled Kartik Sharma as CSK's lower middle order disintegrated.

His figures of 2 for 18 from three overs were clinical and the fact that they came against a side he captained and represented for years only added to the theatre of an already dramatic evening. The decision to trade him now looks considerably worse from a Chennai dressing room perspective than it did when it was announced.

Also READ: IPL 2026: Sanju Samson's CSK debut ends on MS Dhoni's jersey number with zero impact

IPL 2026: What this batting collapse means for CSK going forward

A total of 92 for 8 is almost certainly not enough on any surface in the IPL, eventually bowling out for 127. For Chennai the implications stretch well beyond a single defeat.

This is a team starting the 2026 season at the foot of the points table carrying over what looked at the end of last season like systemic problems in the powerplay. The dot ball count in the first three overs was close to 50 percent which is not a one-off execution failure but a pattern.

With Dhoni unavailable for the next two weeks the questions around leadership and batting intent are not going to answer themselves and the next match will come quickly. Samson will be expected to respond and respond loudly.

The talent is not in question. But the structure around him looks fragile and on the evidence of Guwahati RR have exposed exactly where CSK's new-look batting order is most vulnerable. The 2026 season for Chennai has begun in the worst possible fashion.

Here's how CSK fans reacted: