Ashwin says CSK dressing room will feel deflated after RCB loss
Ravichandran Ashwin and Faf du Plessis expressed concern over CSK’s performance after their defeat to RCB, highlighting issues in bowling and inexperience in the squad, while backing the batting unit and urging patience with young captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Hyderabad: “It is very tough to put CSK’s defeat against RCB into words. The RCB-CSK contest is supposed to be one of the most celebrated clashes in the IPL. Chennai will be playing against RCB only once this season,” says former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Speaking on Hotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’, Ashwin said: “There are some issues in the squad, but there are a lot of inexperienced players in that line-up. We cannot really ask them for accountability. They are at an age where they need to go out and enjoy their cricket. You cannot push them into the legacy chase that is expected from a franchise of CSK’s calibre.”
“I am sure the dressing room atmosphere is going to be hurting. I am not too sure how hard the words can be, but honestly, with such a young side, there is only one way you can go and that is upwards. The way to go upwards is to get a really good work ethic going and a good team atmosphere. I am sure it is going to be extremely deflating inside that Chennai dressing room after this thumping defeat to RCB,” he explained.
For his part, another JioStar Expert Faf du Plessis said: “If you go back to last year, after the end of the previous season, there were quite a lot of questions around the playing method and the way the CSK team wanted to play. Fast forward to the small auction this season, there were some great buys to make the middle order more explosive.”
“They signed some good young batters coming through into the team. But the real question mark for Chennai is who is the marquee death bowler who gets the ball when the pressure is at its highest. Against RCB, I thought they were not far off as a bowling attack. They were pretty good in the Powerplay.”
“But then you run into someone like Tim David on a wicket like the Chinnaswamy. You need your weapons. You need your players who have been in those pressure situations and know how to keep the score down to something like 220. That would have made life easier for CSK’s batters. 220 is a chaseable score. But Tim David was in boss mode. There was no one in that Chennai bowling unit who could put the brakes on him,” du Plessis said.
On how CSK can overcome their bowling issues, du Plessis said: “If you take a close look at the CSK batting line-up, you would say the quality is there. So, you back the quality. You back Ruturaj Gaikwad, the captain. He has proven it over and over again. Sanju Samson is a class player, who proved his doubters wrong in the T20 World Cup. And then you have a mighty talented youngster in Ayush Mhatre, who has been exceptional so far in his short IPL career. So, you have the talent in the top three. It is just a matter of letting them put it together.”
“You just have to back Sanju Samson and give him time. For me, CSK’s main concern right now is not their batting; it is their bowling. How do they make sure they get good with the ball? That is the area they really need to work on. Their main bowlers are not firing, so they need to look at the bench and give chances to the players who are looking to prove themselves. If they come good, then it will be a win-win situation for Chennai,” he said.
On how consecutive defeats will test Ruturaj Gaikwad as a leader, du Plessis said:
“It is not easy as a young captain to suffer back-to-back defeats. Not performing yourself makes things even more difficult as a player. What he will experience right now is the weight of pressure. Expectation when you put on a yellow shirt comes at a cost. The fans expect good performances. They expect the team to be in the semi-finals, finals, and win trophies.”
“So, for him, it is just a case of dealing with that early in his captaincy career. Every good captain has to go through this in their career. They have to get stronger. They have to get a thick skin. You have to understand that this could potentially make him a better leader. He has a good head on his shoulders. He has a great support staff around him. He has a great leader in MS Dhoni, who will soon come back into the fold. So, all the things are there to help him. This will make him stronger as a captain. He will become a better player and leader by going through these hardships,” he explained.
