'Spinners' off day cost us': CSK captain throws Rahul Chahar and Noor Ahmad under the bus after loss to PBKS
Ruturaj Gaikwad blamed his spinners for Chennai Super Kings’ five-wicket loss to Punjab Kings in their IPL match on Friday, saying an off day from them hurt the team despite a strong total on the board. Chennai Super Kings posted 209 for 5, with Ayush Mhatre scoring 73 off 43 balls. But Punjab Kings chased down the target in 18.
4 overs, led by captain Shreyas Iyer, who made 50. After the match, Gaikwad pointed to the performance of his spinners, Noor Ahmad and Rahul Chahar, as a key factor in the defeat. Chennai had seam options like Gurjapneet Singh and Jamie Overton available as impact substitutes but chose to bring in Chahar.
"We felt we had three seamers going in, and obviously we have two good wrist spinners (Noor Ahmad and Rahul Chahar) bowling in tandem, especially in the middle after the powerplay. We felt that, you know, it will help," said Gaikwad. "But I think, you know, slight off day for both of them.
So, I think, that is what cost us. Sometimes we executed really well. Sometimes we just didn't execute at the right time," he added.
He said the team could not build pressure in the middle overs. "There was a point when it (required run-rate) went to 11, and a couple of good overs would have taken it to 12-13. We just did not get momentum in the middle (with the ball).