'Very Odd’ Decision: CSK Criticized After Retiring Ayush Mhatre On 59 Off 36

CSK vs DC IPL 2026: Chennai Super Kings made one of the most controversial decisions in their IPL 2026 match against Delhi Capitals, which is being held at the Chepauk Stadium on Saturday, leaving fans surprised. During the last overs of a run-fest at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium, the host chose to retire the youngster Ayush Mhatre, even though he had scored a gritty knock of 69 runs, and this decision resulted in a huge debate on social media.

Mhatre has played a huge role in stabilizing the innings, scoring 59 runs off 36 balls while maintaining aggression and playing brilliant shots.

He had also stitched a brilliant partnership with Sanju Samson, who had smashed an unbeaten century as the host posted a mammoth target of 212 runs. Since they had an upper edge, their decision to retire Mhatre during the 18th over surprised everyone.

ALSO READ: Sanju Samson Lights Up Chepauk With Stunning First IPL Century For Chennai Super Kings

When Mhatre was seen walking back to the pavilion, his teammates were seen giving him a pat on his back.

Star all-rounder Shivam Dube was the new batter, and that showed their plans of scoring more runs in the death overs with a more aggressive batter at the crease.

Dube repaid the team management's faith by scoring a gritty 20 off 10 balls and helped the hosts maintain their scoring rate above 10 in each over.

ALSO READ: ‘At The Hotel, Watching…’: Ruturaj Gaikwad Gives Update On MS Dhoni

Fans reacted negatively to the decision.

Mhatre on 54 gets retired-out for Dube with 14 balls to go....odd...very odd. #CSKvsDC

— 2dollarsworth (@2dollarsworth) April 11, 2026

Retiring out Ayush Mhatre just to bring in Dube felt like burning the whole house down to get rid of a mosquito pic.twitter.com/GW8UK04d5I

— Chiku.♡ (@Chiku_Tweetz) April 11, 2026

Making Ayush Mhatre retired out is the worst decision, he is a youngster he'll lose his confidence does this team do the same thing if one big name player does the same thing?

— vinnuuu(@vinnuverseeee) April 11, 2026

CSK needs a good coach or mentor

Mhatre retired out and legend Shivam Dube came in instead of Brevis https://t.co/Q5gIO20X2s

— Nayyer (@nayyercasm) April 11, 2026

What is CSK really trying to achieve?
By retiring out young Ayush Mhatre and humiliating him publicly, what have they gained?
Shivam Dube could only manage 20 runs — runs that Ayush could have scored with ease.
It hurts to see a big team like CSK breaking the morale of a… https://t.co/4ULfMU45cc

— 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐘𝐀 𝐑𝐂𝐁 (@Surya18Apex) April 11, 2026

What is This ?
Ayush Mhatre who was playing so well, has been retired out. Just imagine the impact on his confidence for the next Matches.#ipl #csk pic.twitter.com/sHf1iVFnZi

— Stump Stories (@StumpStories07) April 11, 2026

Social media was filled with fans' reactions, many of whom found it very odd and slammed the management for removing an in-form batter during an important phase.

Although teams have retired out batters in this tournament before, it's quite rare that when a batter is on the verge of achieving a feat or has scored runs consistently.

It was the latest addition to the list of retired-outs in the history of this tournament, which has the likes of R Ashwin, Atharva Taide, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, and Devon Conway. But Mhatre's situation is quite rare, as he was in sublime form.