“I think that’s an important part of winning an IPL, that you get your balance right and you have a side that can carry itself through, and your changes are made a long way before the game – not because someone’s out of form but because you’re moving into a particular condition,” Simons, the CSK bowling coach, said at the press conference after the game. “So we know ourselves a lot better as a unit and we also know a lot of the individuals better as to what they can and can’t do.

CSK’s season started with three losses in a row. Then came six wins in eight games. And then, again, three defeats in a row. The six wins gave them hope of sneaking into the playoffs, but Abhinav said that it was a false dawn because of the opponents CSK beat: none of the top teams.

“As much as it looks like, ‘oh yeah, they’ve got 12 points and they had a decent season’, to me a very big factor in that is they beat DC [Delhi Capitals] twice, they beat MI [Mumbai Indians] twice, they beat LSG [Lucknow Super Giants] once, and KKR [Kolkata Knight Riders] once. That’s their 12 points,” Abhinav pointed out on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “They haven’t managed to even shift the needle in terms of your top-three, top-four sides.

“So you know the differential in that. You know the teams that are trying to compete with these top-four sides and you know the teams that are not close. So I felt that CSK had a very average season throughout with them not knowing their strengths at home because that is something that they take pride in. The seasons that they’ve done well in, they know that this is the team that they want to play at home and when they go away they have a certain strength too.”

Before the season started, responding to their bottom-of-the-table finish in IPL 2025, CSK made a raft of changes. The biggest was trading in Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals (RR) in place of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. The other was breaking the bank for two promising young players: Prashant Veer and Kartik.

“The Sanju Samson trade to me was a success because that’s something they addressed from last season, the top. But after that, what happens to your bowling resources,” Abhinav said. “You have got a lot of bowlers for pretty cheap in the auction but are they exactly the replacements that you want? Are these the areas that you’re looking for? I don’t think so. They have a lot to work on in terms of their overseas set-up because they’ve got Matt Henry, Matt Short, Zak Foulkes and Dian Forrester, all four who I don’t think are going to make the cut for next season [but] these are all guys that are part of the other [Super Kings] franchises.

“But other than that, you’ve got Spencer Johnson, who comes in, Overton, Akeal [Hosein], Ellis and Noor [Ahmad]. These are the five options who would be retained. But then you’ve got three other overseas spots that you can fill with players who you need as back-up: Overton’s back-up, Nathan Ellis’ back-up. Nathan Ellis’ back-up is not Matt Henry because they have significantly different roles. It’s not Zak Foulkes, which is why you had to go Spencer Johnson.

“I feel that there was a disconnect in the replacements that they picked as well or the back-ups that they picked in the auction. I would seriously have a rethink. That Indian talent is really good. I think there is a ceiling for them and there is some way to go with regards to their best performances yet to come, [but] I would still back them. But you’ve got to work on your overseas replacements.”