In IPL 2024, LSG, led by their fearless Captain KL Rahul, emerged victorious against CSK for the second time, thus clinching a double, after winning their first match in Lucknow against CSK. Ruturaj Gaikwad hundred and Shivam Dube’s batting fury was not enough for CSK to win, as Marcus Stoinis totally led the LSG charge by not getting out with 124, 63 being his total balls count.
The question of whether to elevate Ravindra Jadeja before Shivam Dube, who was already at a defining point in his career, was the topic of many discussions, even from the pre-match analysis. The overall slow period of the IPL 2024 didn’t give much chance for Jadeja to perform since he scored only 154 runs in 6 innings. Ajinkya Rahane also was out, but the vigour of Daryl Mitchell was not enough to make quick runs.
In the post-match interview, Ruturaj Gaikwad shed light on the decision, stating it aligned with CSK’s tournament strategy. “Jaddu (Jadeja) is batting at number 4 since we lost the second wicket within the powerplay…Our thinking is clear that after the powerplay if there is a wicket, Shivam will come out to bat. We can’t force batters to get out after,” Gaikwad explained.
Despite Gaikwad’s second IPL century, he expressed uncertainty about defending the total against LSG’s formidable batting lineup. “To be honest, I never thought it was enough (the target of 210). It was just about par with the kind of dew we are experiencing. We saw in the last two practice sessions as well. So I knew it would go down to the wire, probably till the last over. But credit to them, they batted really well,” Ruturaj remarked.
The game showed that deciding on a convincing score when the room of bowlers was small and the humidity ruled the day was not easy to do. Alluding to CSK’s strategy is highly debatable, but it is evident that it was more of a calculated move, designed to suit the purpose and fulfil the objectives of the match and tournament as well.
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