I think Gaikwad’s captaincy was very impressive: Sunil Gavaskar

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New Delhi. Former Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar lauded Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy debut for Chennai Super Kings, and credited his brilliant bowling turnaround in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Mustafizur Rahman performed brilliantly in his debut match for CSK and demolished RCB’s top batting order by taking four wickets in the first ten balls of his spell. CSK defeated RCB by six wickets after restricting them to 173 runs in 20 overs.

Gaikwad’s strategic skills shone through as he used his bowlers smartly, especially deploying Mustafizur Rahman with precision and keeping faith in Tushar Deshpande during the crucial phase of the match.

Gavaskar praised Gaikwad’s patience and decision-making abilities and highlighted the influence of veteran MS Dhoni in guiding the young captain.

Gavaskar said in Star Sports show Cricket Live, “Absolutely! Your debut as a captain becomes very important. You want to start your captaincy career on a good note with a win and that’s what happened. What was impressive was that It was his variation in bowling. The way he used Mustafizur was absolutely brilliant.”

He said, “He kept replacing Deepak Chahar, trusting Tushar Deshpande for the last over. I think given that Tushar Deshpande gave away 25 runs, there was an opportunity to use another bowler, but he still stuck to Tushar Deshpande, and Deshpande responded with a brilliant final over. So, yes, I think the captaincy was most impressive. And we see here, of course, he has MS Dhoni around him to guide him. ,

Despite RCB’s aggressive strategy of employing short balls, Gavaskar noted its one-dimensional nature, suggesting that the lack of variation in their approach proved costly.

“By all means try the short ball, but when it wasn’t working… it felt like that was all they wanted to do. You had someone like Dagar, who bowled 2 overs for 6 runs. I know how a left-arm spinner can be picked for 6 runs, but you have to take a chance. Whatever he did, Joseph, Green, Siraj, everyone explains in brief.

Gavaskar said, “What was happening is that if you don’t get the bouncer right, you will give it wide, which means you are giving an extra run, you are going to give an extra delivery. So, your bouncer has to be very accurate, and it was not. That one-dimensional strategy was really disappointing.

Australian legend Steve Smith said that CSK took advantage of their home advantage, effectively put RCB’s batting lineup under pressure and maintained control throughout the match. Mustafizur Rahman’s brilliant performance as well as the contribution from the entire CSK team ensured a comprehensive win for the Yellow Army. I think this is probably an ideal start for Chennai.

–IANS

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