IPL 2020: Match 44: Ruturaj shows the "Spark" as CSK beats RCB

Chennai Superkings have had an IPL to forget. Never have they been languishing at the bottom of the table at this stage of the tournament. T20 as a format is a youngsters game and the average age of the CSK team is way too high for such a fast-paced game. Yes, you need experience but then you need some talented youngsters too and this is where they failed as a team. But teams which languish at the bottom at this stage of the tournament are very dangerous for the higher-ranked teams because if on a good day they put it across the opposition then it derails the campaign of the higher-ranked teams. Royal Challengers Bangalore wanted to get into a safe zone by winning this match against CSK because that would have taken them to 16 points which would have been enough to take them to the playoffs. So how did it go yesterday in Dubai?

Here are my 5 points highlights of yesterday’s match.

1. Faf Du Plessis – the fielder

Faf Du Plessis is one of the best fielders in the world, especially as a boundary rider. Last year he had the maximum number of catches under his name with 12 catches with a couple of stunners. This is something that didn’t change in 2020 too. Yesterday he added another 2 in his kitty to move to 12 catches this season too. But what records book doesn’t show are the many catches that he relays through. Yesterday also we had a similar incident. Padikkal hit a ball high and it was in the gap. But Du Plessis made good ground but by the time he took the catch he was tumbling over and he smartly relayed the ball to Ruturaj Gaikwad who completed the catch. 

2. Sam Curran 

One bright spot for CSK this season has been the form of Sam Curran. The biggest positive has been his consistency. And a big plus with Sam Curran is his batting. CSK has used him in varied positions in the batting order and he has performed well. Yesterday of course his performance was with the ball. It remains a mystery though why the best bowler of the team was not allowed to bowl his full quota of 4 overs. He finished with 3/19 in 3 overs including a very big wicket of Virat Kohli. A job well done to keep RCB within a manageable score of 145.

3. The ABDV & Kohli partnership

RCB had a decent start and when AB De Villiers came to the crease to join Virat Kohli – the scoreboard read 46/2 in 6 overs. Everyone braced up for a long and brutal partnership. Credit must be given to the CSK bowlers who kept bowling length and gave no width. This made stroke-making very difficult and RCB couldn’t get any big overs. 72 runs in 11 overs was what this partnership delivered for RCB which just shows how well CSK bowlers bowled to 2 of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket. Virat Kohli did complete his half-century but 50 off 43 balls always felt very slow and RCB never got the momentum that they were looking for.

4. Yuzvendra Chahal

With a pretty small total to defend, RCB needed wickets. Chahal was brought in to bowl in the powerplay overs but wickets didn’t come. He kept the flighting ball and he bowled them slowly to fox the batsmen but the batsmen made sure that they don’t take any undue risk against the premier leg-spinner. By the time he got the wicket of Rayudu – the match was almost in the bag for CSK. Chahal on his part bowled well and finished with 1/21 in 4 overs.

5. Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad has a stellar record in the domestic circuit and has done very well over the last 18 months with the India “A” team as well. He got two opportunities this season and both the times he was out for a duck. I on my part didn’t like the statement made by MSD a few days back when he said that he didn’t see any spark with the youngsters. I think it was a very wrong statement from a man who has been a product of many chances before establishing himself in the Indian team. Yesterday there was a sigh of relief when Gaikwad took his first single in IPL cricket. From there on end, he showed the “spark” that was needed to impress MSD. Gaikwad showed yesterday why he is regarded so high in the domestic circuit. His cover drives and his lofted straight drives have a hint of Virat Kohli written all over. He took the team home by scoring 65 off 51 balls and was rightly adjudicated as the man of the match. This must be the start of a long and successful CSK career for this highly talented opener.

This loss must be hurting RCB a lot because they have 2 matches next with the two top teams in this year’s IPL. They are yet to confirm their spot for the playoffs and a slip off against a bottom-ranked team can hurt their chances to finish in the top 2.

So what do you think? Will RCB remain in the Top 2?

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