IPL 2021 | Wicket was little tough to bat on, so we decided to play shots on merit, states Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal says that the wicket was little tough to bat on
|Devdutt Padikkal has said that the wicket was a little tough to bat on when Royal Challengers Bangalore played against Chennai Super Kings on Friday in Sharjah. RCB openers Virat Kohli and Padikkal stitched an opening partnership of 111 runs before RCB was restricted to 156/6 by CSK.
Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first on a slowish pitch of Sharjah on Friday. Royal Challengers Bangalore openers, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal provided a great start to the team with the opening partnership of 111 runs as they scored 56 runs and 70 runs respectively. Dwayne Bravo took three wickets at the expense of just 24 runs in four overs and Shardul Thakur removed well set Padikkal and dangerous AB de Villiers in the last six overs to restrict RCB to 156/6. Â
"Yeah, definitely. There are always some things we can improve on. At that stage, we were looking to take the game deep, we felt that the wicket was getting a little tougher and we knew it would not be easy for someone new coming into bat. So, yeah that was what we were looking to do and trying to take our chances whenever we can," said Padikkal during a virtual post-match press conference.
"Obviously, when you have a start like that you would like to get 170-180 atleast. We really did not set a target like that, we were trying to play to the merit of the ball, unfortunately, it did not work out against CSK. But hopefully, we can make that right in the next game.”
In reply to RCB's 156, Chennai had a great start as their openers, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis stitched a partnership of 71 runs for the first wicket. They scored 38 runs and 31 runs respectively. Ambati Rayadu and former RCBÂ player Moeen Ali chipped in with useful 23 runs and 32 runs respectively, to make sure CSK chases the target with ease.Â
With this win, CSK is on the top of the table and is only one win away from qualifying for the playoffs. They will play next against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, September 26 in Abu Dhabi.
