GUWAHATI: Chennai Super Kings have before been in the kind of situations they found themselves in against Rajasthan Royals on Monday. But usually, on those occasions they had experience in the batting order to bail them out — be it a MS Dhoni, a Suresh Raina or a Faf du Plessis in their element.
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However, trading experience for fresh faces in a new-look batting order while in a rebuilding phase, meant that the five-time champions could never recover from the wobbly start they experienced here. Notwithstanding the moist wicket and overcast conditions on a red-soil pitch in the first innings, CSK batters were found lacking application on an intriguing track that helped RR bowlers execute their plans to near perfection.
“They (RR) outplayed us today, but I think it was a good toss to win. The pitch had been under cover for a long time. There was certainly some movement early and our batters probably struggled to adjust to that movement,” CSK batting coach Michael Hussey said after their eight-wicket loss on Monday.
Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, disappointed with his batters’ capitulation, echoed Hussey’s thoughts. “I felt the conditions at the start were really tough, especially when facing Jofra (Archer) and (Nandre) Burger. They bowled brilliant lengths, and even after that, facing a medium pacer (Sandeep Sharma) (it) was slightly tough,” the opener told broadcasters.
“You could see that even the spinners were getting some assistance. Yes, we could have been better in batting; we would have taken the game deep, shown some batsmanship, maybe taken it till 150-160,” he added.
Despite the beating, Hussey stressed on the team’s belief in its batting unit. “Hundred per cent, we’ll still be backing this team. There’s no doubt about that. I’m sure a few guys will say, in hindsight, ‘Maybe I could have played a bit differently,’ but on another day it comes off, and they change the momentum of the game. I don’t want this performance to cloud or put doubt and fear into our team, because I don’t think players perform at their best when they are second guessing themselves,” he said.
Losing half of the side for just 51 runs in the eighth over — and the first by Ravindra Jadeja in RR colours after the inaugural IPL title-winning season — Shivam Dube was in with a responsibility to rescue CSK. But after hitting a six off the very first ball he faced, Dube fell victim to poor shot selection forced by Jadeja’s plot in the last ball.
Acknowledging the former CSK veteran’s mastery, Hussey said, “Jadeja is a wily character. He’s been around a long time, and it was a clever piece of bowling. Jadeja won the battle today, but hopefully Dube can win it next time.”
Defending a small total is never easy for the bowlers if you’re not backed by the fielders. Monday saw CSK fumbling in the field, too. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dropped in the very first ball of the chase and they leaked runs and boundaries as well.
“So we’ll take a few learnings from it. We want to try and put this one behind us quickly and move on back to Chennai,” the former CSK opener said before signing off with a promise to regroup fast.