Ruturaj Gaikwad began his IPL captaincy career with a win as Chennai Super Kings thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in the first game of IPL 2024.
Asked to bowl first, CSK came under a bit of pressure early on as Faf du Plessis came out firing. However, Mustafizur Rahman changed the course of the game by dismissing du Plessis and Rajat Patidar in the fifth over. In the powerplay finale, Deepak Chahar dismissed Glenn Maxwell for a duck to reduce RCB to 42 for 3.
Virat Kohli and Cameron Green steadied the ship with a 35-run stand before Mustafizur Rahman dismissed both of them in the 12th over to leave RCB reeling at 78 for 5. The 150-run mark seemed like a distant dream at the time, but Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik shared a superb 96-run stand to propel their team to a competitive total of 173/6.
In response, CSK crossed the finish line in the 19th over. After captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was gone for 15, players like Rachin Ravindra (37), Ajinkya Rahane (27) and Daryl Mitchell (22) started but failed to convert into a big score. CSK were reeling at 110 for 4 in the 13th over. However, Shivam Dube (34*) and Ravindra Jadeja (25*) shared an unbeaten stand of 66 runs to help their team start the campaign with a win.
Ruturaj Gaikwad on the victory:
After the victory, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad expressed his happiness that his team had complete control of the game throughout the match. He also said that dismissing du Plessis and Maxwell in quick succession proved to be the turning point of the game.
“Total control, I would say, from the beginning (apart) of 2-3 overs. I would have loved to have made 10 or 15 fewer runs, but I thought they played very well towards the end. I feel like it was a big turning point to get Maxwell and Faf out. We got three quick wickets and it helped us control the next overs, that was the real turning point,” said Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Furthermore, the CSK boss said he likes the captaincy, although he dismissed the idea that it could add pressure. He insisted that he did not feel any pressure while he led the team before stating that every player on the team was aware of his role.
“I have always enjoyed it (the captaincy), I never felt it as an additional pressure. I had experience on how to handle it, I never felt any pressure, obviously I had Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai too.
“I think everyone in our team is a natural hitting player, I think even Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) is playing very positively. Everyone knows his roles and which players to face. Role clarity really helps. Two or three things to work on, everyone batted well, but I think if someone in the top 3 had batted up to 15th, it would have been even easier,” Ruturaj Gaikwad said.