IPL 2024 CSK vs GT: Shubman Gill says losing matches like these in the start of the tournament is good

Chennai Super Kings started their title defence in style when they got the better of Gujarat Titans by 63 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.

The defending champions were asked to bat first, and they obliged by scoring 206/6 in their 20 overs, restricting Shubman Gill’s side to a mere 143/8 in their 20 overs. Shivam Dube (51 off 23), Rachin Ravindra (46 off 20), and Ruturaj Gaikwad (46 off 36) shone with the bat, while a small cameo from Sameer Rizvi helped CSK breach the 200-run mark.

Gujarat never got going and lost wickets at regular intervals to succumb to the pressure. The 63-run loss was GT’s heaviest defeat in the league.

The win put CSK on top of the points table.

Gill conceded that the team was outplayed in every department of the game. Speaking post-match, the Gujarat skipper lauded CSK’s execution. “They outplayed us. When they were batting and when they bowled, their execution was spot on. We backed ourselves to get a good powerplay score, but once we couldn’t, we were always playing catch up,” he said.

Gill said they were expecting to chase close to 200 but said their batting let them down. “In T20, you can always talk about 10-15 runs here and there, but eventually it is about how much they got. We were expecting to chase anything between 190 to 200, but we can talk about how we could’ve stopped a few more boundaries. It is good to have games like these at the start of the tournament. We let ourselves down while batting,” he added.

CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said CSK played a near-perfect game. “Today’s game was a near-perfect game, in the sense of batting-bowling-fielding. Against a team like Gujarat, we had to produce this kind of performance,” he said, at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Gaikwad lauded Shivam Dube for his splendid knock of 51 and said working with MS Dhoni has done a world of good for Dube. “Just confidence. When he (Dube) came here, the management worked with him personally, and Mahi bhai (Dhoni) worked with him personally. He knows what role he is playing and which bowler to take on. He is a big plus for us,” he explained.

Dube, who has played in three different franchises in the IPL, lauded the CSK management for the way they handle the team. The southpaw said the team has given him the freedom to take the bowlers head-on, and that has helped him fine-tune his game. “This franchise is something different from all others. They give me freedom. They want me to do better, and I also want to win some matches. I know bowlers will bowl some short balls, and I’m ready for that. The management wants me to score with a higher strike-rate and that is what I’m doing,” he said, after receiving the man-of-the-match award.