IPL 2021 | CSK vs RR: What Experts said as Super Kings weave spin-web around Royals

The Chennai Super Kings have won two in two to go to the second position in the table after having lost their opening encounter against Delhi Capitals. They defeated Rajasthan Royals by a huge margin of 45 runs to seal their victory on Monday night, 19 April at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Royals, while chasing a target of 189 at the Wankhede Stadium wasn’t really up to the mark as they ended up at 145-9 after being 78-2 at one point in time during their chase. 

Jos Buttler was the best RR batsman on the night and looked the most comfortable while he was batting out there. For CSK, it was their latest recruit Moeen Ali who once again gave a decent start for his team and returned to pick three wickets for just seven runs in his three overs in the second innings. In the batting department, Faf du Plessis was the highest scorer with 33 while the rest of the guys chipped in. Chetan Sakariya picked three wickets, including that of MS Dhoni. 

Captain's Viewpoints

MS Dhoni, the Chennai skipper was pretty pleased with the win. Talking about why he bowled the first six overs with the same two bowlers in Sam Curran  and Deepak Chahar, Dhoni said, “I always look at what's the best to do at any point of time.” 

"For the second time in Mumbai, the ball was turning and gripping. His behind wicket advice about the dry ball turning more was just one example of he has not really lost touch with the game, although his batting reflexes are not the same as five years ago. Commenting on that the Chennai Skipper said, “Even the wet ball was spinning. If the wet ball was turning then the chance of the dry ball turning is high. It was good to have Moeen as the wicket became a bit more sticky [than usual].”

It was CSK’s first-ever win batting first at the Wankhede. Although Chennai Scored 188 and it turned out to be way more than enough, the 39-year-old felt that they were still short. “Glad we scored 180, I thought we could have got more. The first six balls I played could have cost us in another game,” an honest Dhoni reviewed his performance (17 balls 18 runs.) 

Dhoni was at his vintage best during the post-match presentation as he talked about he is not as much bothered about performance as about getting fit. According to the Jharkhand born, performance can never be guaranteed, neither as a 24-year-old nor as a 39-year-old, but being unfit is a greater burden on his soldiers. 

“Getting old and being fit - those are two difficult things! When you're playing you don't want anyone to call you unfit. I have to keep up with younger guys, they run a lot, but it's always challenging,” concluded the Helicopter shot owner. 

Sanju Samson, the Rajsthan skipper who ended on the losing side was bitterly disappointed. “I think it was a good score to chase down, but we lost too many wickets in the middle,” he said. Praising the bowlers, Sanju said, “I think our bowlers bowled really well but they [CSK] batted very deep. Maybe 10-15 runs extra conceded in the end.” 

The spinners played an innings breaking role against the Royals and dew not coming on was a great shocker for the Kerala born Rajasthan captain. “We never expected that [the ball to spin so much].. The dew didn't come, the ball was turning and that was a bit shocking to see,” said the 26-year-old. 

Talking about his form, which he seemed to have lost after the first game in which he scored a century, Samson said, “I think it's very important to maintain a good composure throughout the tournament. This format demands scoring runs at a high-risk rate.”

“Sakariya has been doing really well. We've lost but definitely, there are positives,” he concluded citing a positive from the game, probably the only positive. 

Expert Opinion

The Experts were of the opinion that the Rajasthan skipper is wasting away his talent by not being consistent. Boria Majumdar, a cricket journalist and historian was the first to point that out. 

Boria followed this with a problem-posing question for CSK as they have really struggled at the opening spot. 

Then veteran Journalist Ayaz Memon too deplored Rajasthan for not applying themselves on the crease during the chase. 

Harsha Bhogle was of the opinion that the game can change in very few moments and praised CSK for lapping up an opportunity that they got without any contribution of theirs in the first place. 

Vikrant Gupta praised Captain Cool for having the captaincy wits even now. He did that, but not without acknowledging the fact that as a batsman, Dhoni is actually getting worse with each passing day. 

And then our Mr Funnybones, Gaurav Kalra entered the list, not with funny comments but rather an emotional one with respect to Dhoni. The Jharkhand player had asked Jadeja to turn the ball after it was changed in the 10th over after Buttler hit one into someplace in the stadium that it couldn’t come back from there and a dry ball was introduced in the game. The ball did turn enough to bundle out the Royals, just almost.

The Super Kings from here would now play two more games at Wankhede against Kolkata Knight Riders and   Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 21 and 25. Royals too have a similar trajectory, as after playing their two games at Wankhede against the same opponents as CSK, the two teams will move to Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.