IPL 2026, SRH vs CSK: Did Matthew Short's selection break Chennai's winning streak?

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) missed a wonderful opportunity to make it three consecutive wins on Saturday, April 18, as they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

The loss is going to sting the CSK fans as it will go down as a game CSK should have won. There wasn't much that separated the two sides, and CSK might have had the better of the Ishan Kishan-led side, if it wasn't for a debatable selection call that probably cost them two valuable points.

After playing Akeal Hosein as an Impact Sub for Ayush Mhatre and winning against Delhi Capitals by 23 runs and Kolkata Knight Riders by 32 runs, CSK suddenly replaced the West Indian with Matt Short. The decision cost them dearly.

Ruturaj Gaikwad initially used Short as a bowling option. He got taken to the cleaners by the SRH batters and ended up with figures of none for 38 in three overs at an economy rate as high as 12.66.

But what probably cost them more was the way Short batted. He struggled to 34 off 30 with three boundaries at a strike rate of 113.33 and never showed signs of taking the opposition on. When Short came into bat, CSK needed 129 more to win off 15.2 overs at 8.48 runs per over. But the asking rate mounted beyond the comfortable grasp of CSK at the time of Short's dismissal as they required 47 off 26 balls at 11.19 per over.

What's hard to comprehend is CSK's thinking behind Short's inclusion and his positioning in the batting order. Short made his BBL debut for Melbourne Renegades in the 2014-15 season. He was just another player playing in the T20 tournament before Adelaide Strikers made him open in the 2021-22 season. Short aggregated 493 runs in 16 games that season at an average of 32.86 and a strike rate of 155.52, and hasn't looked back since then.

Short has racked up 2466 runs in the BBL, but 2105 of those runs have come as an opener; that's nearly 85.4%. CSK made Short bat out of position at four, and the move didn't pay dividends. Short laboured his way to 34 and was put out of his misery by Eshan Malinga in the 16th over.

CSK should have stuck to what was working for them and played Hosein. While he returned figures of none for 20 in his two overs against Delhi, he just conceded 26 in four overs in the win over KKR and bagged the crucial wicket of Angkrish Raghuvanshi - one of the few batters who have looked in touch for KKR this season.

Hosein has a career economy rate of 7.17 in T20s. Had CSK backed him, they might have kept SRH to a lower total than what they ended up scoring. On top of that, Hosein is no muck with the bat either and can be a handy lower-order batter, having scored 1161 runs at a strike rate of 114.61 in his T20 career.

While injuries to key players have not helped, CSK need to go back to the drawing board and rethink their strategy to keep their playoff hopes alive this IPL season.