MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings suffered their third defeat of the ongoing 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League. CSK couldn’t defend their total of 190 runs against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the match last night and lost the game by 7 wickets with 15 balls to spare.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s maiden century went in vain as Rajasthan Royals successfully chased down a competitive target of 190 runs in just 17.3 overs to keep themselves alive in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. RR openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Evin Lewis gave a perfect start before Shivam Dube wreaked havoc with the bat to take his team home.
After the match, when MS Dhoni was asked about the par score on the pitch, he gave a hilarious reaction by saying “250.” Dhoni admitted that RR took the match away in the powerplay, smashing 81 in the first six overs itself. He said:
“It was a bad toss to lose. 190 was a good score, and the dew made it flat, and the ball started coming on well after the first 6-8 deliveries. You needed to bat well and they did that and put pressure on the bowlers. They just took the game away in the first six overs.”
He added:
“250 would have been close to par [smiles], given the fact that they finished with 15 balls to spare despite slowing down in the middle.”
MS Dhoni also talked about the slowness of the pitch early on when CSK was batting and heaped praises on Ruturaj Gaikwad for capitalizing on the start once the surface played better. Dhoni said:
“It was stopping a bit initially when their wrist-spinners were bowling but it became better later, especially in the last 4-5 overs, and that’s when Ruturaj capitalized really well. Often when you lose the game, it can get brushed under the carpet, but it was an outstanding innings, and 190 was a good score to get on a wicket like that.”
Chennai Super Kings’ bowling unit missed the presence of Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo on Saturday. Dhoni stated that he missed the duo, emphasizing the need to forget about this match and also learn from it. He concluded:
“Of course, I missed them [Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar]. Deepak has done very well for us. Both of them are very experienced. We could have used the dimensions better in terms of setting fields too. Like making them go over the fielder rather than going over mid-off or short cover. It’s important to forget but also learn from this game because such a situation can come in a playoff match.”
