"The Reason Was...": MS Dhoni's Honest Admission After CSK's Defeat To RR

Table-toppers Chennai Super Kings suffered a comprehensive loss to Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Thursday, falling 33 runs short of the target of 203 runs. The hosts, despite lacking a bit of home support from fans, put in a fabulous display of batting, with Yashasvi Jaiswal emerging as the top-scoring batter. Chasing such a stiff target, CSK skipper MS Dhoni admitted that there were just too many runs to chase for his team, especially because of the way the Royals batted in the first 6 overs.

Rajasthan started the match in 5th gear, putting a whopping 64 runs on the board in the first 6 overs, with Jaiswal and Buttler putting yet another half-century stand for the opening wicket. Though Buttler failed to convert his start into a big score, Jaiswal went on and scored 77 runs off 43 balls to lay a solid foundation for his team.

Chasing the target of 203 runs, Chennai barely looked in control of the required run-rate which kept increasing despite Ruturaj Gaikwad (47) and Shivam Dube (53) producing solid knocks.

Why does the Sawai Mansingh Stadium remain special for @msdhoni?

Here's what he said #TATAIPL | #RRvCSK pic.twitter.com/u4ApgNZHDC

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 27, 2023

Dhoni, speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, admitted that the target was quite above par. In fact, he felt CSK ended up on the losing side because of what RR did in their first six overs.

"It was quite a bit above par score. The reason was the first six overs, we gave away too many in the first six. At the same time the wicket was best to bat on at that period. Then our bowlers bowled well in the middle overs but even when we were finishing, there were a few edges that went for boundaries and that actually kept adding to the score. If I just go through it, maybe there were at least five or six boundaries with edges and that had a very big impact on the score. I think they got a par-plus score and we were not able to get a good start in the first six overs," he said.

Dhoni also held special praise for Royals opener Jaiswal at the end of the match.

"Yashasvi batted really well, it was important to go after the bowlers and I think he took calculated risks. It felt it was slightly easy with our bowlers because they had to assess as to what is a good length to bowl. As a captain you can tell them initially that you want to be slightly on the shorter side," he said.

"But it's very difficult to calculate as to what is that shorter side. So I felt initially we gave away a few boundaries that were too up (on the fuller side) and then you are doing the catching up work. Still I felt Yashasvi batted very well at the top and in the last few Jurel batted well. (But) I think it was in the first six that took the game away from us," he asserted.

The defeat saw CSK drop down to the 3rd spot in the points table while RR climbed to the No. 1 position.

from NDTV Sports-Cricket
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