We would love to play more on such wickets: Gaikwad

Yet another game where Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad lost the toss. Unlike on other occasions, it didn’t turn out to make a massive difference, with dew not playing any role in the afternoon clash on May 12 (Sunday).

Simarjeet Singh’s performance played a massive role in restricting Rajasthan Royals to 141/5, with figures of 3/26. It was a rare clash in Chennai where there was a low-scoring game after CSK’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders earlier in the season. 

Chasing 142, the onus was on CSK’s skipper Gaikwad to spearhead the paltry chase while the others around him upped the ante. In the post-match presentation, the CSK opener talked about the surface in Chennai, stating that they would love to play more on ‘such wickets’, where there is grip and turn. 

“Definitely, we would love to play on such (turning) wickets. It brings our spinners into play and with huge boundaries, there is an amount of risk to hit sixes. That is always the plan whenever you come here. Sometimes, the wicket is flatter and we go to the yorkers. When the wicket is slow and you have a bigger side, you want to take the pace off,” Gaikwad revealed in the post-match presentation. 

Gaikwad also opened up on his role, stating that he was the man to ‘anchor’ the run-chase. 

“When we were 55-1, I felt we were cruising. One or two wickets can allow the opposition to get back. As a team, we have stroke-players so my job was to stay there till the end. Generally, I thought we were cruising and there was no pressure until the end,” he added. 

For the Super Kings, it was quite a bowling effort against a threatening batting unit, and it was Simarjeet’s display that blew the Royals outfit, with the wickets of Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson - three of RR’s biggest batters. 

Talking about his plan of bowling slightly in the back-of-a-length area, the seamer said: “I am very thankful to the CSK management, the physio and my trainer to treat me the way they did when I was injured. It is a blessing. I think, after seeing the wicket, the captain decided, and we stuck to the plan. We saw how the pitch was behaving, and then I spoke to him (Gaikwad) and decided what we wanted to do."

Rajasthan navigated through the powerplay without losing a wicket, scoring 42 runs. Post the game, Samson revealed that the message was quite clear: the wicket was slow and two-paced. He also insisted that the bounce on the wicket wasn’t as much as they expected. 

“I think after the powerplay, the message was the wicket was slow and two-paced. Bounce was also not as much as we expected. When I was batting in the middle, the score I was expecting was around 170. We were 20-25 runs short We tried our best, they knew the conditions and they bowled smartly,” Samson revealed in the post-match presentation.

So, why did RR decide to bat first? In Samson’s own words, the away team expected the conditions to get ‘worse’ as the day progressed, making it easier for them to defend the total. 

“We are not very sure what to expect in away games. Looking at the venue, we thought batting first might be better. I think when you have a score to chase, on these wickets, they had a better idea and a better hand in this. We expected it to be slower in the second innings but it was a touch better,” the 29-year-old further added. 

“When you play here in night games, it is a no-brainer (to chase) with all the dew coming in. The summer is getting hotter in India and as the wicket heats up, I was expecting it to slow down."

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