Chennai Super Kings Dominate RCB in IPL Opener Under New Captaincy

It was expected that the men of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) would be buoyant following their women's team's WPL title win and that "King Kohli" would be playing at his best in the lead-up to the 2024 Indian Premier League. However, it was not the fault of the Chennai Super Kings if they appeared uneasy with their new leadership. However, the exact opposite occurred.

In their season opener, the Super Kings, the reigning champions, seemed incredibly confident, whereas the RCB appeared shaky and feeble on Friday in Chennai. As a result, the home team won the season opener by a comfortable margin of six wickets.

When RCB batted, two overs by Mustafizur Rahman, in which he claimed four wickets, put them on the back foot. This ultimately proved to be significant.

Player of the Day Chennai Super Kings' Mustafizur Rahman visits the Chepauk on Friday. 
Mustafizur Rahman of the Chennai Super Kings was named the game's MVP on Friday at the Chepauk.
PTI
In spite of the initial nervousness and a dull middle stretch, RCB bounced back nicely in the final five overs to score a respectable 173/6 in 20 overs. However, it proved insufficient as Chennai, led by new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, chased down the mark in 18.4 overs on a pitch that was quite favorable for batting.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis gave a superb summary of the situation during the post-match awards ceremony. "On a pitch that wasn't as bad as we played in the first ten overs, we were short by fifteen to twenty runs." Whenever we attempted to go ahead of the game, we were continually lagging behind. The South African stated, "They were always one step ahead of the game."

Almost every player who took the field for Chennai contributed to the team's excellent start to the season, therefore there wasn't a standout performer at bat. Ajinkya Rahane produced a quick 27 off 19 balls, while Shivam Dube (34 not out off 28 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (25 not out off 17 balls) completed the task for the home team. Rachin Ravindra, making his IPL debut, top-scored with 37 off 15 balls.

With a strong and timely knock, Dube—the Super Kings' Impact Player in lieu of Mustafizur—impaired the selectors' prospects of selecting him for the T20 World Cup.

Not enough of a late surge

The left-arm seamer Mustafizur first removed Rajat Patidar and Du Plessis in the fifth over of the innings. In the 12th over, he delivered a double blow again, removing Virat Kohli and Cameron Green.

Playing after a hiatus due to the birth of his second kid, Kohli got off to a slow start, facing just six balls in the opening six overs. When Rahane and Ravindra finished a superb relay catch, he was caught at deep mid-wicket, struggling to escape loose.

Aussie Green returned to the hut with a 78/5 score against RCB, who were not exactly clicking on the hits.

For the remainder of the RCB innings, it appeared as though the Super Kings would be in control, but Dinesh Karthik, 38, and Anuj Rawat, 24, had other ideas. Rawat, the keeper-batter, was the more aggressive of the two, hitting four fours and three sixes in his 48 off 25 balls. With 38 not out off 26 balls, Karthik was not far behind. The pair combined to score 95 runs off of just 50 balls. But in the end, that proved to be insufficient.

New Chennai captain Ruturaj "enjoyed" his captaincy debut, but RCB will need to regroup. "I never once felt under pressure from anything... Of course, Mahi bhai was with me.

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