Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that he would like to believe that the Ekana Stadium pitch wasn’t the easiest to bat on and the Chennai Super Kings would take positives out of their defeat to the Lucknow Super Giants, even as their playoff chances were dealt a massive blow. CSK will have to win their remaining two matches in the league stage of IPL 2026, while also hoping that the Rajasthan Royals lose their remaining games. CSK’s playoff hopes suffered a major setback after LSG chased down a competitive target of 187, leaving the former in a virtual must-win situation heading into the final phase of the league stage. “I would take the positives from this game for CSK. I would think that this wicket was not that easy and, despite batting first, they still made 187. Sanju Samson did not score runs, Ruturaj Gaikwad did not get many either, so if they find form (in the upcoming matches), that would be key for CSK,” Shastri said while speaking on JioHotstar. “Their bowlers will learn what lengths they need to bowl in conditions like these. In Chennai, they know what works and where to bowl, so they will be a much stronger team at home,” Shastri added. The former Indian player felt Anshul Kamboj should have shown greater match awareness by aiming for yorkers in the blockhole, a tactic that could have stopped Mitchell Marsh from hammering him for four sixes. “After getting hit for four sixes, what should Kamboj have done? In my opinion, he should have thought more about bowling yorkers, targeting the stumps right in the blockhole,” Shastri said. “When you know Marsh was waiting for anything short of a length, either bowl yorkers at the stumps or, if you are bowling bouncers, bowl them outside the off stump with a deep third man in place,” Shastri added.