The defending champions led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who have already clinched the title five times, continued their streak of victories by securing a 63-run win against the Gujarat Titans, further solidifying their dominance at their home ground, M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. CSK displayed a comprehensive performance across all areas to overpower the team led by Shubman Gill. Shivam Dube was the standout performer with the bat, scoring 51 runs from 23 balls, while the opening duo of Rachin Ravindra and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad contributed significantly with 46 runs each.
Against a team like Gujarat, we needed to come up with a performance like this- Ruturaj Gaikwad
In the post-match presentation, Ruturaj Gaikwad expressed his delight over the team’s commanding performance on their home ground. He mentioned,
“Today’s game was perfect – batting, bowling and fielding, and against a team like Gujarat we needed to come up with a performance like this,”
He added,
“In Chennai, we are not sure how the wicket will be, we need to do well irrespective of batting or bowling first. Here if we have wickets in hand at the end it helps,”
It was surprising to see that the pitches at Chepauk were conducive to batting, especially since the home team was asked to bat first. Despite this, they managed to post a formidable total of 206 runs on the scoreboard.
Rachin Ravindra batted brilliantly in the powerplay- Ruturaj Gaikwad
The captain also made a special mention of his opening partner, applauding him for setting the tone for the innings with an aggressive stance right from the start of the powerplay, which helped give CSK a rapid start. He said,
“Personally felt that Rachin batted brilliantly in the powerplay and took the game away. From there we were always ahead,”
The standout performance of the day came from Shivam Dube, who truly entertained the home crowd with his display. He made an immediate impact by hitting two sixes from the get-go against the Tamil Nadu-based spinner R Sai Kishore. Dube didn’t hold back against the pacers either, who attempted to exploit what was considered his weakness in previous seasons with short balls. However, he effectively put those challenges behind him, adopting an aggressive approach that saw him reach his fifty in rapid fashion.
Fielding is a big tick for us- CSK Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad opened up about the adjustments he implemented that contributed to his successful beginning to the 2024 season. He explained,
“In terms of confidence, the management and Mahi bhai worked with him, his confidence is very high. He knows his roles very well. He is a big plus for us,”
In the second innings, GT struggled to gain momentum following a powerful performance with the ball from CSK. Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, and Mustafizur Rahman each took two wickets, effectively quashing any possibility of a GT comeback.
The win was further secured by an exceptional fielding display from both the young talents and the experienced players on the team. Rachin stood out with three impressive catches, while Sameer Rizvi contributed with a solitary catch. MS Dhoni showcased a remarkable effort by diving to his right to dismiss Vijay Shankar, and Ajinkya Rahane made a diving catch to eliminate the threat posed by the formidable David Miller. The CSK skipper concluded,
“I’m impressed with the fielding as well. Maybe one or two youngsters we have extra this year and great effort from Jinks (Rahane), even in the last game he was running from one end to the other. Fielding is a big tick for us,”
Also Read: https://goworldwide.co.in/aakash-chopra-analyzes-mis-defeat-to-gt/