Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered a crushing 50-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 8 of the IPL 2025 season at Chepauk on Friday (March 28).
It was RCB’s first win at CSK’s home ground after 17 years. After the game, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad made a rather bizarre statement, saying that he was happy that his team didn’t lose by a big margin but only 50 runs.
“I still feel 170 was a par score on this wicket. Bad day in the fielding cost us. When you are chasing 20 runs extra on a sticky wicket, you have to bat differently. It got a little bit slower and sticky. Don't really know how it happened. Rahul backed his shot, I backed my shot, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Still happy that we didn't lose by a big margin, it was just 50 runs,” said Gaikwad in the post-match interview.
RCB posted a massive score of 196/7 on the board. Captain Rajat Patidar led his team from the front as he slammed a magnificent half-century (51 of 32) while Tim David (22* off 8) provided a strong finish with three consecutive sixes in the final over.
In reply, CSK finished their innings on 146/8 in 20 overs. Josh Hazlewood (3/21 in 4 overs), Yash Dayal (2/18 in 3 overs), and Liam Livingstone (2/28 in 4 overs) ran through Chennai’s batting line-up.
Gaikwad praised the RCB batters as they kept on building their momentum which resulted in a strong finish.
“A different scenario. When you have three world-class spinners, you want the new batters to face them. The momentum kept going and didn't stop till the final over. There's a long flight to Guwahati, we have to turn up mentally. The fielding has to improve a lot and we have to come back strongly,” he added.
CSK fans were left irked by Ruturaj Gaikwad’s comments that they only lost by 50 runs and not a big margin against RCB.
Here are the reactions:
