IPL 2021: ‘They bowled well, we played some bad shots’ – KL Rahul hails loss against Chennai Super Kings as ‘good learning’

IPL 2021: ‘They bowled well, we played some bad shots’ – KL Rahul hails loss against Chennai Super Kings as ‘good learning’

KL Rahul

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered their first win in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in some style. CSK thumped Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six wickets to clinch a low-scoring affair at the Wankhede. PBKS managed only 106 runs in their quota of 20 overs following a batting collapse. CSK chased down the target with 26 balls to spare to rise to the second place in the points table.

PBKS skipper KL Rahul feels that the early wickets took the game away from his side. Rahul praised the CSK bowlers for their great effort. He adds that the wicket proved to be ‘more stickey’ than it appeared to be. The Karnataka opener was run out in the game following a mix up with Chris Gayle.

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“There’s not much more to say. If any team loses five wickets in the first seven or eight overs, it’s always going to be catch up. They bowled well, we played some bad shots, that’s how the game goes. It (pitch) was a lot more sticky and tacky than what it looked like.”

“Credit to the CSK bowlers, they bowled in the right channels, Deepak with his knuckle balls got a couple of wickets, getting myself run-out doesn’t help the team,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation. “Just the way we started, the pitch was still okay, it wasn’t a 100-110 wicket, maybe 150-160 sort of a wicket. But, it’s a good learning for us, hopefully we can learn from these mistakes and come back stronger in the next game.“

“It’s important that we learn from our mistakes,” KL Rahul

Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings showed a lot of faith on young Australia pacers Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith in the auction. Having notched the duo for big bucks, they had a horrible start to the season as they conceded over 100 runs between them. But they bounced back strongly against CSK and Rahul is impressed by the way they executed the plans.

“We have pace in our attack, we obviously want to use that. The first game didn’t go too well for those two (Richardson and Meredith), it was their first game and I am sure they were a bit nervous. That was the chat after the game as well, that’s how IPL goes. It can be tough and cruel. Their plans were clear, they did execute it pretty well. It was good to see that they came back stronger this game and they gave us crucial breakthroughs,” the skipper adds.

Rahul shares that his side will be reviewing the game and will be looking to learn for the mistakes. He adds that no matter what his side will always look to play fearless cricket and express themselves.

“We’d like to review ourselves on the key points that we speak about before the game and if we stuck to those plans. Last game we got 220, this game we couldn’t get even half of it. It’s important that we learn from our mistakes and that’s the sort of team we want to be.“

“We still want to go out there and play fearless cricket. It’s T20 cricket, more often than not you’ll score big runs but there’ll be one or two games in a season where you lose wickets like this. It’s important that we take it on the chin and move forward and get better next game,” Rahul concludes.

Deepak Chahar was the star of the game for CSK. Following a dismal outing in the season opener, Chahar returned with all guns blazing as he scalped four wickets in the game. For Punjab, it was young gun Shahrukh Khan who shined in the face of crisis. The hard hitting batter played a crucial knock of 47 to help his side past the three figure mark.

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