Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted his own failure at the top hurt Chennai Super Kings as they slumped to a heavy defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, elaborating on the key moments at the post-match press conference.CSK were rocked at the start of their chase of 250, collapsing to 30 for 3 after losing Ruturaj, Sanja Samson and Ayush Mhatre. This early damage proved decisive despite a spirited response later.Reflecting on the fight, Ruturaj said in the post-match conference:“Well, I was surprised too to be honest. Great batting from Sarfaraz, Prashant Veer, Jamie Overton, even Shivam Dube to some extent. So I think maybe I would have contributed more at the top of the order, you never know, we would have caught up. So it’s definitely down to me today.”He highlighted how the efforts of Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Veer and Jamie Overton briefly kept CSK in the contest, but admitted that the game had already slipped because of the poor start.Ruturaj also produced a crucial moment in the field that could have shifted the pace. Virat Kohli was dismissed early and RCB fully capitalized.Speaking about this phase, he said:“We should have, as you rightly said, if we had taken Virat Kohli’s chance early, I think it was, I think we might have had the momentum to ourselves. But I think we had the game in our hands until the 13th, 14th over and that’s when the momentum really shifted.”This shift came in dramatic fashion at the death as Tim David attacked CSK. Ruturaj pointed out that they almost had the opportunity to release him earlier.At the time, he said in a press conference:“Well you’re right KP. I think Anshul almost got a wicket from him. It’s unfortunate it was an illegal delivery but yeah, he was just banging all over the park after that and as you rightly said, hats off to him.”
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What do you think was the turning point for CSK in the match against RCB?
RCB’s late surge, fueled by Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar and David, took the game completely. It was clear to Ruturaj. Missed chances, an underwhelming start with the bat and a brutal finish by the opposition sealed CSK’s fate.
