IPL 2024, CSK vs PBKS IPL Highlights: Clinical Punjab Kings outclass Chennai Super Kings with 7-wicket win

‘Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn’t great’: Ruturaj Gaikwad after loss

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted that his team was about 50-run short as the pitch was tricky to bat in the first innings.

“Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn’t great when we batted, it got better later on. With the impact rule as well, we were well short,” Gaikwad said.

The CSK captain also talked about losing another toss and said he is clueless about what to do about that.

“I’ve practiced the tosses (during the practice sessions), it’s not going well in the match, not sure what to do. To be truthful, I’m under pressure when I go to the middle (for the toss),” he added.

Gaikwad further asserted that it was a different pitch and the surface where the last two matches were played was a better one.

“We were also surprised that we won by a big margin in the last match considering the conditions (win by 78 runs against SRH). I think the last two games, the conditions and pitch was better, it allowed us to fight hard and get to 200+, today, it wasn’t good enough to get to even 180,” he added.

He also talked about the impact of a player missing due to injuries as Chahal walked away in the first over.

“It’s a real problem, there are phases where you want wickets, but you have only two bowlers, the dew took the spinners out of the equation. It was tough, but there’re four games left and we will try and come back to winning ways,” he added.