Ruturaj Gaikwad, captain of Chennai Super Kings, was grinning after his team nailed a tough chase—over 200 runs, no less. CSK managed to hunt down 204 and beat Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets in a wild, high-scoring IPL match at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. It wasn’t just any win either. Thanks to Urvil Patel’s lightning-fast fifty off just 13 balls, CSK pulled off their first successful chase of more than 180 runs since 2019 and jumped up to fifth place on the points table, wrapping things up with four balls left.
He admitted, “Yeah, it got pretty close—but honestly, when you’re chasing 200, you know you’re going to go deep into the match. We started strong in the Power-play, but it’s tricky for new guys to just walk in and start smashing.”
“But finishing the job matters most, right? It’s been ages since we chased 200, so it feels good to finally get it done,” Gaikwad said after the game.
He gave a shout-out to his bowlers—especially Jamie Overton, who picked up three wickets—for clawing the game back after Lucknow’s blazing start (Josh Inglis cracked 85 runs, absolutely flying). Gaikwad also revealed that a pep talk from Sanju Samson during the first strategic time-out helped wake everyone up.
“After the time-out, Sanju came in and told us, ‘If we’ve got it in us, now’s the time to fight back and keep them down as much as possible.’ Even 220 would’ve been okay, really. That pumped up the whole team, and then it was just about chipping away—getting wickets and slowly clawing back into the match.”
He said the whole squad wanted to turn things around after that time-out. “That real determination changed everything for us. It was about picking the right bowlers: attacking from one end, defending from the other. Lucknow were ahead—by 15, 20, maybe even 30 runs after Power-play. So we decided, ‘Let’s get our best bowlers on for these next few overs and see what happens.’ Between the sixth and tenth overs, Noor and Jamie did a brilliant job, just dragging it back for us.”
And Gaikwad tipped his hat to Josh Inglis. “Full credit to Josh. He hit some unreal shots. We just didn’t have an answer. You can’t really plan or set a field for someone batting like that. Hats off. He played a blinder.”
Looking forward, Gaikwad knows recovery’s key—especially with CSK heading to Lucknow for the reverse fixture on May 15. “Some of the guys really need a breather. It’s brutally hot and humid right now, and playing twenty overs here is tough. For a lot of the squad, it’s their first time dealing with this kind of heat.”
“We needed that break, and we’re going to make the most of it. But we’ll make sure we’re ticking all the boxes during our practice sessions—working on every area we can.”
Gaikwad was happy with the effort during the recent break, saying it paid off well. “Three matches left, and it’s all about keeping things simple, as simple as possible. I know it’s easy to say when the pressure’s on, but that’s our mantra, and we’re sticking to it,” he finished.
