On Wednesday, Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad once again lost the toss, making it the ninth time in 10 matches this season. Gaikwad was announced as CSK's new captain on the eve of IPL 2024's opener replacing MS Dhoni. But in terms of toss, it hasn't worked out for Gaikwad as Lady Luck has always selected the opposition captain.
Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran won the toss at the MA Chidambaram Stadium and opted to field, which proved to be the right decision as PBKS won by seven wickets. Chasing 163, PBKS raced to 163/3 in 17.5 overs, courtesy of dominant knocks from Jonny Bairstow (46) and Rilee Rossouw (43). Initially, two-wicket hauls from Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar saw PBKS restrict CSK to 162/7 in 20 overs.
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Speaking after the match, Gaikwad lamented his luck at toss, and revealed that he has also been practising it. "Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn't great when we batted, it got better later on. With the impact rule as well, we were well short. I've practiced the tosses (during the practice sessions), it's not going well in the match, not sure what to do. To be truthful, I'm under pressure when I go to the middle (for the toss)," he said.
"We were also surprised that we won by a big margin in the last match considering the conditions. I think the last two games, the conditions and pitch was better, it allowed us to fight hard and get to 200+, today, it wasn't good enough to get to even 180. It's a real problem (on the player missing due to injuries and Chahal walking away in the first over), there are phases where you want wickets, but you have only two bowlers, the dew took the spinners out of the equation. It was tough, but there're four games left and we will try and come back to winning ways," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"We were also surprised that we won by a big margin in the last match considering the conditions. I think the last two games, the conditions and pitch was better, it allowed us to fight hard and get to 200+, today, it wasn't good enough to get to even 180. It's a real problem (on the player missing due to injuries and Chahal walking away in the first over), there are phases where you want wickets, but you have only two bowlers, the dew took the spinners out of the equation. It was tough, but there're four games left and we will try and come back to winning ways," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Gaikwad has been brilliant with the bat this season, and is currently the Orange Cap leader with 509 runs in 10 matches, at a strike rate of 146.68. Meanwhile, he has also registered a ton and four fifties. After the defeat, CSK remained in fourth position in the IPL 2024 points table. Meanwhile, PBKS climbed to seventh place.