IPL is back after facing many problems. The BCCI has managed to keep the tournament alive after finding new sponsors and a new location at the same time. The league started on 19th September, where the first match was played between the two most successful teams of the tournament. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are two of the best teams in the game, which met again on the first matchday after the 2019 finals, although this time, it was Chennai who won the match. MS Dhoni’s captaincy was highly appreciated after the game. Every decision Dhoni made worked out pretty well for the team. However, after defeating Mumbai Indians, CSK had to face Rajasthan Royals in their next match.

Match Summary: Rajasthan Royals vs. Chennai Super Kings:

Rajasthan Royals were the IPL champions who beat Chennai Super Kings in 2008 in the finals. When both the teams met, it was a great match where Chennai won after a close chase. On 22nd September, it was time for the Royal clash once again. Chennai won the toss and elected to bowl first. Rajasthan knew that if a team like Chennai is going to chase, they have to give a huge target, and that is precisely what they did. After a stunning performance from Sanju Samson, who hit 74 runs off just 32 balls and also a great last over where Jofra Archer crushed Lungi Ngidi by hitting four sixes and scoring 27 runs in 8 balls, RR managed to score 216 runs.

This was a big target, even for a team like Chennai Super Kings. CSK was also missing some major players like Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, and Dwayne Bravo. Chennai started slow as always and focused more on saving wickets. But, after the dismissal of Shane Watson, they started losing wickets continuously. Sam Curran got dismissed after scoring two sixes, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was a replacement for Rayudu, got ducked. The shocking part was that the CSK skipper, MS Dhoni came in at the 7th position to bat. Faf du Plessis did his best and even scored 74 runs in just 37 balls after getting dismissed by Archer.

What did Dhoni say after the match?

Chennai knew that they were going to lose the match. As a result, now their primary motive was to balance their net run rate. After hitting three consecutive sixes in the last over, Dhoni managed to reach 200 runs. Post-match, when Dhoni was asked that why did he come out so late to bat even when the team was under so much pressure, he said that he wanted to give the young players a chance. He also said that he was not in his best form, and the 14-day quarantine did not help. This is one of the very few times we see Chennai lose a match even after winning the toss.