After CSK’s loss to LSG in the IPL 2024, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad justified the decision to have Ravindra Jadeja bat before Shivam Dube in the batting order.
After being asked to bat first at Chepauk, CSK lost two quick wickets: Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell. Ravindra Jadeja came in to bat at number 4. However, the decision didn’t work out well for the defending champions, as Jadeja could only score 16 runs off 19 balls before getting out to LSG’s Mohsin Khan.
Dube came in to bat at number 5 and continued his good form in IPL 2024 by scoring a rapid 66 runs off just 27 balls. Gaikwad also played a brilliant knock of 108 runs from 60 balls.
Jadeja hasn’t shown his usual aggressive batting form in IPL 2024 for CSK and scored only 154 runs in 6 innings. Since Rahane and Mitchell were out early in the powerplay and CSK had a low score, it made sense to send Dube to bat in that situation.
During the post-match presentation, Ruturaj clarified the decision to choose Jadeja over Dube, referring to their team strategy for the current season of the tournament.
“Jaddu (Jadeja) is batting at number 4 since we lost the second wicket within the powerplay…Our thinking is clear that after the powerplay if there is a wicket, Shivam will come out to bat. We can’t force batters to get out after,” Gaikwad said.
“To be honest, I never thought it was enough (the target). It was just about par with the kind of dew we are experiencing. We saw in the last two practice sessions as well. So I knew it would go down to the wire, probably till the last over. But credit to them, they batted well,” Ruturaj added.
Chennai Super Kings will now play their next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 28 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
