Follow UsAs Chennai Super Kings (CSK) slipped to their first defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk in 17 years, Anirudha Srikkanth, a former IPL winner with the franchise, questioned Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy
CSK won the toss and opted to field on a track that had enough for the bowlers, but a sub-par bowling performance saw the hosts leak 196 with the ball. Curiously enough, the experienced pairing of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja only bowled a total of five overs between them, and the CSK skipper’s in-game usage of the two spinners left a lot to be desired.
“The usage of Ashwin today was wrong. If you look at the numbers, Patidar only has a strike rate of 96 against Ashwin and has gotten out twice in 25 balls. But he did not bowl one ball to Patidar today,” Srikkanth said.
“At the other end, Kohli has a strike rate of 108.3 against Jadeja. Like I said yesterday, Jadeja should have bowled with the new ball to Kohli and Salt, and Ashwin should have been kept for Jadeja.
“We keep saying ‘12 overs of spin’, but we have to remember, it’s not MS Dhoni who is captaining. This bowling attack is ideally suited for Dhoni, but Gaikwad is not looking at the matchups. At least he didn’t do it today. I don’t know if he has belief in the spin bowlers. He didn’t use spin well last year and he’s not doing it well so far this year.”
As it stands, CSK have won eight and lost as many matches under the captaincy of Gaikwad. Last year, they failed to make it to the playoffs after winning the title in 2023. The 50-run defeat against RCB was CSK’s worst-ever defeat at Chepauk.