The doubleheaders on Saturday witnessed two heavyweights Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians suffering their fourth loss in a row. The multi-time champion teams are going through a rough patch and failed to strike the right balance in the initial stage of the tournament. While Sunrisers Hyderabad earned their first win over the season after triumphing Ravindra Jadeja’s CSK.
Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their third win in a row as young Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli shine with the bat against five-time champions MI at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
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Here are talking points from Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2022 match.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Rough Patch Continues
Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who enjoyed a great run with the bat last season and claimed the Orange Cap, had a tough start to IPL 2022. After registering 0,1 and 1 in the first three matches, he failed again versus Sunrisers Hyderabad and was dismissed on just 16. He was castled by a toe-crushing yorker by T Natarajan. The opener batter is struggling against pacers as CSK have failed to get a good start so far in the tournament. CSK management has to sort the flaws to bring the best out of their charismatic opener.
Abhishek Sharma Finally Shines
After a slow start to the season, uncapped Abhishek lived up to the expectations of his team management and scored a blistering 75 runs off 50 balls which was laced with 3 sixes and five fours. His opening partner Kane Williamson had a tough time in the middle during his 40-ball 32, but the young Abhishek helped SRH to keep a check on the required run rate which helped them register a comfortable win. Before the match, many were suggesting that SRH should try Rahul Tripathi as an opener instead of Abhishker but the latter silenced his critics with a solid performance.
CSK Lack Wicket-Takers
Another game and another loss for CSK as their bowlers once again failed to take wickets at a crucial stage. CSK are dearly missing the services of Deepak Chahar who is yet to attain full fitness. In his absence, the Yellow Army is failing to take crucial wickets with the new ball. They lacked wicket-taking options as apart from Dwayne Bravo none of the other bowlers create much problems for the opposition batters. While the spin department is also looking very ineffective which leads directly to their auction strategy which backfired for them. Skipper Jadeja and Moeen Ali have failed to create any impact with the ball so far.
Here are talking points from Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2022 match.
SKY The Saviour
Suryakumar Yadav battled it out against RCB bowlers alone to take Mumbai Indians to a fighting total of 151-6. The Mumbaikar slammed unbeaten 68 runs off 37 balls to rescue Mumbai from a tricky situation when they were 79/6. On a pitch where several Mumbai batters find it tough to score, Surya’s knock was pleasing to the eye as he smashed 6 sixes and 5 fours. He attacked everyone from the RCB bowling line-up who came in his way to redeem Mumbai Indians’ innings. It was the second time in a row when Suryakumar slammed fifty but it ended up in losing cause he didn’t get ample support from other MI batters.
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Anuj Rawat Lives Up to Expectations
Young RCB opener Anuj Rawat finally lived up to the expectations of his team management who have always heaped praises on him since the start of the season. Rawat failed to convert good starts into big scores in the first three matches of the season but he didn’t waste the opportunity on the fourth occasion. He score a sensible 66-run off 47 balls where he showed positive intent while taking on the MI bowlers to slam 6 sixes. Skipper Faf du Plessis also praised Rawat after the match and said he has the potential be become a star in future.
Mumbai Selection Strategy Backfired
Mumbai Indians made two changes to their playing XI as they dropped Tymal Mills and Daniel Sams to include Jaydev Unadkat and Ramanpreet Singh. They played with just two overseas players which didn’t work in their favour. The five-time champions dropped Tim David from their XI after a couple of low scores. They bought him for a whopping INR 8.25 crore and not playing him against a franchise that he earlier was part of was a bit questionable. Apart from that, Tymal Mills was a little expensive in the first three matches but so were other MI bowlers. The English pacer was a threat to batter whenever he came to bowl as he snared 6 wickets in 3 matches and dropping him against RCB backfired for Rohit’s team.
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