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Former India captain and legendary batter, Sunil Gavaskar was unimpressed with Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) tactic in the opening match of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). After Faf du Plessis' men failed to defend the score of 173 runs at Chepauk, Gavaskar criticised the tactic implemented by RCB to continuously err on the shorter side despite not achieving any benefits out of it.
"Yes, try the short ball by all means, but when it wasn't working... it looked like that's all they were looking to do. You had somebody like a Dagar, who had bowled 2 overs for 6 six runs. I know the way the left-hand spinner can be picked for 6, but you got to take a chance. All that they did, Joseph, Green, Siraj, everybody go in short. What was happening was that if you don't get the bouncer right, you are going to give it a wide, which means you're giving an extra run, you are going to bowl an extra delivery. So, your bouncer has to be very accurate, and it wasn't. That one-dimensional tactic was really disappointing," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
What happened in the match?
A superb 95-run partnership between Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik propelled RCB's score to 173/6 after the team were languishing at 78/5 when the top order batters failed to provide the start required. Karthik remained unbeaten on 38 runs off 26 balls while Rawat was run out on last ball of the match after scoring 48 runs off 25 balls.
The Super Kings got off to a perfect start after debutant Rachin Ravindra scored 37 runs off 15 balls. All of CSK's top order batters chipped in and played their role as Ruturaj Gaikwad's emerged victorious by six wickets, securing two crucial points in the process.
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