"That was the difference..."- Ruturaj Gaikwad blames this thing for CSK's defeat despite MS Dhoni's heroics

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad talked about the loss his side faced in the game against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He admitted that his team not capitalizing on the power play with the bat turned out to be different for them.

Chennai Super Kings faced their first loss of the IPL 2024 as Delhi Capitals thumped them by 20 runs in the Vizag. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side weren’t up to the mark with the bat and ball and failed to cash on the crucial junctures of the game, which saw them fall short.

Asked to bowl, they conceded 191 runs and were under pressure right from the start. After the 91-run opening partnership between David Warner (52) and Prithvi Shaw (43), Chennai picked quick wickets and came back in the game. But they failed to carry on the momentum as Rishabh Pant (51) slammed a half-century to take his team to a big total.

With the bat, Chennai were torrid as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra lost wickets early. Ajinkya Rahane (45) and Daryl Mitchell (34) kept them in the hunt but couldn’t continue. In the end, Ms Dhoni (37*) and Ravindra Jadeja (21*) tried to win the game but the target was too much as they managed just 171 runs.

Ruturaj Gaikwad said that he was satisfied with his team’s bowling performance but stressed that extra seam movement and spongy bounce made batting difficult for them in the start. He admitted that they failed to get a big over, which cost them. Speaking to broadcasters, he explained:

“I think I was pretty much happy with the way they (bowlers) came back after the start (powerplay). Restricting them to 191 was a good effort. The pitch was on the better side in the first innings. Second innings there was extra seam movement and spongy bounce. I felt he (Rachin) was missing it by a big margin.”

“We couldn’t get going in the first three overs and that was the difference. At the halfway stage it was getable. There was extra seam movement and we couldn’t capitalize and we were always behind. We didn’t get the big over to reduce the run rate.”

After two good games, you can expect the third game to go below par – Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad further played down the idea of playing an extra-fast bowler and said that Deepak Chahar is doing a great job for the team. He added that they fell short by small margins but there’s nothing to worry about. He added:

“Not really (if an extra bowler in the lineup with help in powerplay). Deepak is always used to bowling 3 overs. Even though the first four overs were good, the last two overs were expensive.

“After two good games, you can expect the third game to go below par and that’s nothing to worry about. Just two or three hits here and there, in the field, if we had stopped one or two boundaries it could have been different.”

Chennai Super Kings will be next seen in action when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on 5th April.