Follow UsChennai Super Kings (CSK) under Ruturaj Gaikwad got off to the perfect start, as his side blanked Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season opener.
Gaikwad, whose side chased down 174 with eight balls to spare, says that being the side's captain is not an additional pressure given that he has also led Maharashtra in domestic circuit.
"I’ve always enjoyed it [captaincy], never felt it as an additional pressure. I had experience on how to handle it, never felt any pressure, obviously had Mahi [MS Dhoni] bhai as well," Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation.
Speaking of the match, Gaikwad said that the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis were crucial. "Would’ve loved 10-15 runs less, but I think they played really well towards the end. I feel that 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."
While CSK got the two points, Gaikwad still believes that there are a few areas his side can work on. "Everyone knows their roles and which bowlers to take on. Role clarity really helps. Two-three things to work on, everyone batted well but I think if someone from the top 3 batted till the 15th over it would’ve been even easier," the 27-year-old said.
A disappointed du Plessis conceded that RCB did not have enough runs on the board. "Maybe we were about 15-20 runs short, the pitch wasn’t as bad as we played in the first 10 overs. They were always ahead in the chase; we tried to squeeze and get a couple of wickets, but in the end, we didn’t have enough runs," du Plessis said.
Du Plessis was also pleased with the way Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat, who added 95 off 50 for the sixth wicket, played. "Really good for Dinesh to set up his season, especially for someone who hasn’t played a lot of cricket. Anuj has shown some great promise for us, he showed great composure for a young guy and great power through the backend," the RCB skipper added.
RCB will hope to get off the mark in IPL 2024 when they take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday (March 25), while CSK face their opponents from last year's final Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday (March 26) in Chennai.