CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad defended his decision to send Ravindra Jadeja to bat at number 4 in the order against LSG in IPL 2024, despite the in-form Shivam Dube waiting in the wings. Jadeja, who has been struggling for form this season, managed just 16 runs before being dismissed by Mohsin Khan, while Dube continued his explosive form with a 66 (27) knock.
However, Gaikwad justified the move, saying that their team plan is to send Jadeja in after the powerplay if a wicket falls, and that they can’t force batters to get out. CSK eventually finished on 210/4 thanks to a century from Gaikwad and a 104-run partnership with Dube, but it wasn’t enough to prevent LSG from chasing down the target with six wickets in hand.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Gaikwad said: “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.”
The CSK skipper, who registered his 2nd IPL hundred in the clash, reflected on the score they had to defend against a star-studded LSG batting unit. “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 really well,” Ruturaj added.
CSK will be hoping to bounce back after losing two matches on the trot, as they now shift their focus to their highly-anticipated upcoming fixture against an in-form SRH on April 28.
