Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad‘s toss interview was interrupted by the tremendous noise made by the crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai during the IPL 2026 encounter against Punjab Kings on Friday. It was CSK’s first home match of the season, and the crowd gave the home captain a thunderous ovation. The noise was so loud that broadcaster Ian Bishop had to pause his interview and, after some time, asked his question to Ruturaj once again. During the interview, Bishop also moved a bit towards Ruturaj in order to be audible, and he even apologised to the camera operators for changing the angle of the coverage.
“Well, I think, you know, for me it looks a bit on the drier side. And I don’t think it will change too much. More often than not, it will remain the same. And, you know, it’s the early part of April, so I don’t think dew will be a key factor in the second innings. So I think runs on the board and definitely you can depend on this track,” Ruturaj Gaikwad said after the delay.
Chepauk was so loud that Ian Bishop had to move closer to Ruturaj to talk during the toss. pic.twitter.com/fC3OG4Op3H
— ` (@WorshipDhoni) April 3, 2026
Coming to the match, Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field.
“We are going to bowl first,” said PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer.
“Since it is their first match at home, I think it is a fresh wicket. It would be a great thing to know how it plays. Based on that, I have made this decision.”
Speaking of his hand injury, Iyer said, “It is fresh. I just want to be positive in the way I talk. I just feel that if I say anything negative, it rubs off on my body. Just want to keep it cool. It gives us immense confidence. The motivation we got from the last game will rub off today. We just want to play to the best of our abilities”.
On his batting, he said, “I feel that I just like to take on bowlers when the chips are down. That’s the mindset shift I did last season. This season, I came with a similar mindset. The players clear the boundaries easily these days. That rubs off on everyone in the team. We are going with an unchanged team.”