In a battle for the final IPL 2024 playoffs spot, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered a 27-run defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday (May 18).
While the defending champions were chasing a daunting target of 219, they needed over 200 runs to qualify and came remarkably close with MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja launching a counterattack towards the end.
The defending champions required 17 runs off the final over, but despite Dhoni smashing a towering six off the first ball, Yash Dayal held his nerves to secure RCB’s victory.
After the game, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said missing out on key players made a huge difference.
"I think it was a good wicket to be honest, it was spinning and gripping a little bit, but I think 200 on this ground was gettable. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals, it was a matter of one or two hits, sometimes that can happen in a T20 game," Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"Pretty happy with what the target was, to sum up the season, I am pretty happy to have seven wins out of 14 games. Just couldn't get over the line in the last two balls."
"With the kind of injuries we had, missing out on two frontline bowlers, not having (Devon) Conway at the top of the order as well, I think missing out on three key players made a huge difference," he added.
Talking about the spate of injuries which disrupted the balance of his team, Gaikwad said: “There were many challenges for us right throughout the first game. Injury to Fizz (Mustafizur Rahman), then injury to (Matheesha) Pathirana as well, he came back and then again Pathirana missed out. When you have injuries around, you have to get that balance in the team and pick it (the team) for every game.
"I think this season sums up well where we had to tinker around with our playing XI, considering the injuries and all the illness (of the players) as well. Happy with the seven wins, couldn't get over the line though. Happy with it."
"We got 10 from the last 2 balls in our last knockout game last year so this was a similar situation, things didn't go our way (this season) though," he further remarked.
Gaikwad finished the season with 583 runs from 14 matches, including a hundred and four half-centuries. However, the CSK captain said it doesn't matter as he couldn't take the team to the play-offs.
"For me, personal milestones don't really matter a lot, after all the ultimate goal is to win. If you are not getting there it's a disappointment. Doesn't matter if you score 100 runs or 500-600 runs in a season. I am disappointed," he concluded.
