Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) new skipper, Ruturaj Gaikwad, has been enduring a dismal run of luck in coin tosses this Indian Premier League (IPL) season. In Wednesday’s match against Punjab Kings, Gaikwad lost his ninth coin flip in 10 matches, a streak that has become a source of frustration for the team.
Punjab Kings capitalized on the toss advantage and the conditions at Chepauk, exploiting the opportunity to hand CSK a seven-wicket defeat on their home ground. Gaikwad acknowledged the pressure he feels during coin tosses and revealed that he has even been practicing them before matches.
“I’ve practiced the tosses (during the practice sessions), it’s not going well in the match, not sure what to do. To be truthful, I’m under pressure when I go to the middle (for the toss), not at the game,” Gaikwad said after the match.
CSK’s batting performance was lackluster, managing only 162 runs after being put into bat. Punjab Kings chased down the target with 13 balls to spare, thanks in part to the dew factor that aided their chase.
Gaikwad admitted that his side was around 50-60 runs short and that the dew factor played a significant role in Punjab’s victory. “Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn’t great when we batted, it got better later on. With the impact rule as well, we were well short.”
“Very difficult (on defending 162 in dew). Even in the last game, we were quite surprised that we would win by that much margin. This is something we can’t control. We can slightly bat better in the first innings. In the last 2 games, we tried our best to get 200-210. This pitch it was tough to get 180,” Gaikwad added.
With 5 wins and 5 defeats in 10 matches, defending champions CSK sit at the fourth spot on the points table. Punjab Kings, on the other hand, have 4 wins in 10 outings and are on the 7th spot.
