KL Rahul was a disappointed captain as Punjab Kings (PBKS) suffered a 6-wicket thrashing at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 8th match of IPL 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday (April 16).
Invited to bat first, PBKS managed a below-par 106/8 in 20 overs. It was a listless batting performance as none of them except for Shahrukh Khan (47 off 36 balls) managed to touch the 20-run mark.
Deepak Chahar was the stand-out bowler for CSK, claiming 4 wickets by conceding 13 runs in his four overs.
WATCH – “Makes me feel very old”, MS Dhoni reacts after his 200th appearance for CSK
Chasing the target, Super Kings got over the line with 26 balls to spare, courtesy Moeen Ali’s 31-ball 46 and Faf du Plessis’ unbeaten 36 off 33 deliveries.
Speaking after the game, Rahul hoped that his side learn from the mistakes and bounce back stronger in the next game.
"There's not much more to say. If any team loses five wickets in the first seven or eight overs, it's always going to be catch up. They bowled well, we played some bad shots, that's how the game goes," Rahul said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"It (pitch) was a lot more sticky and tacky than what it looked like. Credit to the CSK bowlers, they bowled in the right channels, Deepak with his knuckle balls got a couple of wickets, getting myself run-out doesn't help the team," he further said.
"Just the way we started, the pitch was still okay, it wasn't a 100-110 wicket, maybe 150-160 sort of a wicket. But it's a good learning for us, hopefully we can learn from these mistakes and come back stronger in the next game," Rahul added.
Punjab Kings had piled up a mammoth 221/6 in their IPL 2021 opener versus Rajasthan Royals but the Rahul-led side barely managed to cross the 100-run mark against CSK.
"Last game we got 220, this game we couldn't get even half of it. It's important that we learn from our mistakes and that's the sort of team we want to be. We still want to go out there and play fearless cricket," said Rahul.
"It's T20 cricket, more often than not you'll score big runs but there'll be one or two games in a season where you lose wickets like this. It's important that we take it on the chin and move forward and get better next game," he added.
Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson might have bowled well against CSK but the two bowlers were expensive in PBKS’ opening fixture.
"The first game didn't go too well for those two (Richardson and Meredith), it was their first game and I am sure they were a bit nervous. That was the chat after the game as well, that's how IPL goes. It can be tough and cruel. Their plans were clear, they did execute it pretty well," said Rahul.
"It was good to see that they came back stronger this game and they gave us crucial breakthroughs. We'd like to review ourselves on the key points that we speak about before the game and if we stuck to those plans," he added.
Punjab Kings will take on Delhi Capitals in their next game at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 18).
(With ANI inputs)
