Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has put his weight behind Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to come good amid the ongoing IPL 2026. Ashwin has urged Gaikwad to show more intent in his game in the tournament.

The CSK opener was dismissed after scoring seven runs against KKR at the MA Chidamabaram Stadium, Chennai on Tuesday. Gaikwad has managed only 63 runs in five matches of IPL 2026 and has failed to lead from the front.

“The fact that he’s got a couple of wins as a captain should really ease him into this tournament. Honestly, if I was sitting in the dugout or if I were Ruturaj Gaikwad, I wouldn’t be too fussed. T20 is a game where you need to show intent constantly; there’s just one small thing I would ask for,” Ashwin told JioStar.

Ashwin said Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre did the right thing by playing straight down the ground whereas Gaikwad made the mistake of playing across the line.

“If you look at Ayush Mhatre or Sanju Samson, they took the right options by going down the ground. Whereas Ruturaj has been going across the line a bit more and getting caught early. It would serve him well if he took it slightly easier at the start of his innings, looked to time the ball, and played more down the ground,” he said.

On the other hand, Ashwin added KKR would hope the arrival of Matheesha Pathirana would help them turn a corner in IPL 2026.

“You can’t expect Pathirana to come into the tournament and turn things around immediately. But remember one thing: a few years ago, in 2021, KKR were down in the dumps. The tournament had to be restarted, and they came back, won consistently, and got on a roll. Everything changed. And what turned it around for them? Fresh energy from someone like Venkatesh Iyer,” he said.

KKR is yet to register a single win in IPL 2026 after five games