Mustafizur Rahman (Source -CSK)
The opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk witnessed the home team emerging victorious by six wickets. Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was the star of the match, claiming four wickets and won the Player of the Match award. CSK’s bowling consultant Eric Simons lauded Mustafizur for executing the plans to perfection.
After opting to bat first, RCB got off to a decent start, but soon started losing wickets in the form of Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Rajat Patidar, to Mustafizur’s brilliant bowling. After Green’s dismissal to the “Fizz” at 78/5, RCB was in deep trouble before Anuj Rawat (48) and Dinesh Karthik (38*) took the team out of the crisis with a 95-run stand to take them to a competitive 173/6.
“We always wanted to look at the conditions and the balance of the side. He does suit the conditions, but it’s the simplicity of the plan that we put in place, and he executed that beautifully today (Friday),” Simons said in the post-match conference.
“They were 78-5, and the spinners had done a good job. Two overs went for a few, and the momentum shifted, and it was probably late at that stage to throw the ball to him in that situation. From what we have seen in the nets, he can certainly bowl; but at the right time,” the South African added.
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Some credit must go to the RCB batters – Simons
Simons admitted RCB came back well in the game in the death overs. “DK (Dinesh Karthik) is a daunting guy to bowl to in those moments. Some credit must go to the (RCB) batters as to how they manipulated us. We will then look at it, did we allow it to happen too much?” he said.
In the chase, CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra got off to a flying start. Simons was pleased with the aggressive approach, saying, “The important thing in competitions like this is for the batters to be themselves, and that’s the way they like to play, with freedom and be intimidating to the opposition. The batting line-up that we have gives us confidence as to what we can do.”
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Despite a mid-innings wobble, Shivam Dube (34*) and Ravindra Jadeja (25*) took CSK home comfortably in the end with eight balls to spare. CSK will play Gujarat Titans in their next game on 26th March in Chennai.