Dhoni's comments on Gaikwad were excellent. He spoke about all the trouble he has been through: Covid-19, then a longer quarantine, then walking into a losing side and getting off to a poor start to his career. Dhoni said the coaches and management are all there to help you, but ultimately you have to go out there and fight it out for yourself. It is true for life overall too. And also how pragmatic he is about the rest of the season. The onus is on enjoying the 12 remaining hours now. MS remains a good'un. See you tomorrow. Also hop over to the other tab for the other game tonight
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Man of the Match: "It feels good. More importantly winning the game for the team. And being not out in the end. It was tough for me going into quarantine for more days than the rest of the team because of Covid. I got support from everybody. I knew a knock was always around the corner. It was a little bit slow, but I was picking up the gaps. And I was pro-active to pick which bowlers to attack and which to not."
MS Dhoni: "I felt this one was one of the perfect games. Everything went to plan, and the execution was there. We kept picking wickets, and kept them to a total that was slightly below par. The wicket was on a slower side, and the spinners did a good job. We haven't been very consistent with the batting. Today the start was very good. Rutu batted well. He backed himself to play the shots he is known for. Looking to time the ball, if you look for four, you can get six. It does hurt when you don't do well so you try to amplify certain emotions. So that the guys just don't drop the game. That can leave with 12 painful hours of the remaining time in the tournament. You have to enjoy the game no matter where you are on the table. If you are not enjoying the cricket, it can become cruel and painful. So I am glad with how the youngsters have responded."
Virat Kohli: "What you saw in the second innings wasn't a true reflection of how difficult the pitch was. We didn't hit the areas. Too many boundary balls. They bowled really well. We hardly got any drive balls from them. We were looking for 150, but we were happy with 145. Our extra pace might be a factor but that can't be an excuse. We just didn't bowl enough slower balls. No change of pace, no bouncers. We saw how difficult it was to get under those slower balls."
**
A comprehensive win over contenders for a top-two slot. CSK bowled very well in conditions tailormade for them, shutting RCB down with lack of pace, and then the top three of CSK did the business. Although you will have to question the RCB tactics. They hardly bowled a slower ball after having seen CSK have a party running their fingers on the ball. An off day for RCB means they have given DC a clean shot at a top-two finish after they had messed things up with two tactically poor games back to back. Kohli was the first one to admit his bowlers could have bowled more slower balls and changed things up with pace