“Well, tough season to start, especially the hat-trick of losses, and then after that, once we found that momentum, obviously we found guys playing at the right spot, the right combination, everything started working,” Gaikwad said. “And then, a couple of injuries again and again didn’t really help much, especially missing out Jamie and another allrounder in Ramakrishna Ghosh, kind of unsettled our playing 12. We were always playing a batter short or playing a bowler short in the last three games we played.

“Not many people actually buy the fact that we are a young team, we are in a transition phase, and [we don’t have] a lot of players who are experienced enough, especially in the toughest competition. But given the fact that [we have] eight to 10 players who have played just below 20 games, it’s good to have that exposure for them, especially this year. We got to know what are the areas we are lacking [in], but still, to get those six wins and a couple of great wins as well, I’m really proud of the unit.”

“When we traveled to Hyderabad, we missed out on chasing [84] in 10 overs, and then even last time when we played in Chennai, we could have restricted them to 180, so a couple of games where we could have just got over the line, failed to do that, but still very much proud.”

CSK have traditionally been known to prize and get the best out of older, experienced players. This IPL season was different, and Gaikwad pointed to the gains some of the young players had made through the season.

“Moving on from the likes of Ajinkya Rahane or Ambati Rayudu [who were part of CSK’s last title win in 2023], we had experience throughout the years [to] Kartik Sharma, Urvil [Patel], even Brev [Dewald Brevis], obviously missed out on playing initially in the season as well.

“Kartik obviously impressed a lot. He has a lot of potential going ahead, obviously a lot of areas to improve. Urvil, again is someone playing a full season for the first time, so you have a lot of expectations coming when you’re playing a full season, so definitely that could have played in his mind, but obviously, good to have those games in the bag for everyone and definitely we’ll come back stronger next year.”

“You’ll get to know it next year itself,” Gaikwad said. “You and I will get to know it next year itself. Obviously, it’s a hard miss for us, definitely. He’s someone who can [instill] a fear in the opposition, especially coming in those late overs, can really change the game, can really change the momentum just by staying at the crease, so he’s someone we definitely missed a lot this season.

“We never know about next season, but obviously really happy with the guys we had and really happy with the experience they got this year.”