Rachin Ravindra, Shivam Dube muscle CSK to handsome win over GT at IPL 2024

You don’t drop Ruturaj Gaikwad and escape unscathed. But Rachin Ravindra and Shivam Dube seem to be setting the bat at a different level altogether. Striking an out-of-the-world 246.66 (37 off 15 balls) in his first-ever IPL game, and following it up with an equally scintillating 20-ball 46 (strike rate of 230), Ravindra has shown he belongs at this level in the matter of two games.

Chennai Super Kings’ MS Dhoni tries to run out Gujarat Titans’ David Miller (ANI)
And having already earned his stripes, Dube may have laid claim in the T20 World Cup selection mix by hacking five sixes in a 23-ball 51. Chennai Super Kings hit fifteen boundaries in total but what was more devastating was the 11 sixes suffered by Gujarat Titans as they fell 63 runs short in Chennai on Tuesday.

Defeat looked imminent as early as the third over when Titans captain Shubman Gill was trapped plumb in front of middle and leg after he failed to connect a pull off a good length ball from Deepak Chahar. Wriddhiman Saha was middling the ball nicely till he was pinged on the helmet by a Chahar bouncer and ended up pulling the next ball – also a short one – to Tushar Deshpande at deep square-leg. But the 33,000 strong Chepauk crowd really found their voice when MS Dhoni turned back the clock to dive full length (2.27m, according to replays) to his right and pouch an edge flying off Vijay Shankar’s bat.

Requiring 127 off the last 60 balls, David Miller and Sai Sudharsan had no choice but to go for the bigger shots. Miller struggled to get under a flick from Deshpande as the pitch slowed down, resulting in Ajinkriya Rahane hareing in from cow corner and diving forward to make a stunning catch. Sudharsan displayed his usual solidity but failed to score enough shots to break free, eventually releasing Sameer Rizvi from long range at long-on. Two wickets in the next two overs and even the usually feisty Rahul Tewatia had run out of partners and steam to mount an unlikely counterpunch.

CSK was able to enjoy a stroll in the end largely due to the start provided by Ravindra. Two sixes off Umesh Yadav, a third off Azmatullah Omarzai in the fifth, he just wasn’t ready to let Gujarat Titans settle into any kind of rhythm. “I think as a player you often want to have down the powerplay. I got balls I could take on,” said Ravindra during the mid-innings break. The lengths were not always to blame. This wasn’t the typical Chepauk pitch too, with Ravindra saying the ball “skidded on nicely”. It allowed for an early offensive after Sai Kishore spilled an easy catch of Gaikwad at first slip in the first over.

Four consecutive overs saw Titans being belted for 55 runs, Gaikwad contributing just 13 of them. Ravindra stated that it was more about showing intent. Perhaps too much intent in the first over of Rashid Khan finally led to a breakthrough, as Ravindra got an inside edge to a quicker delivery and instinctively started off for a single, completely unaware that the nimble Saha had collected the ball rolling towards him and whipped off the bails. Gaikwade stepped up to the plate and took control of the innings by rocking back and hitting Khan through off for an exquisite four.

Ajinkya Rahane couldn’t bolt off the blocks but Dube didn’t even wait for a ball after coming in at No.4, smoking Kishore through long-on for six before slogging him over deep midwicket for another big one. Daryl Mitchell had only made four of the 57 runs that CSK had added in 35 balls by the time Dube was removed. It ensured CSK batted in the middle like they had started, averaging 10-plus per over throughout the innings with Rizvi adding the final touches with a six-ball 14. Like in the previous match, Dhoni did not have to come out batting.

And if CSK continue to bat in this vein, Dhoni can well afford to put up his feet and enjoy the carnage unleashed by the top order.