KXIP vs CSK: What Experts said as Super Kings sink Kings XI in IPL 2020

The Chennai Super Kings knocked the Kings XI Punjab after a comprehensive victory in Abu Dhabi. The match marked the end of the road for both the teams and now the race to the playoffs is now stabilising with teams getting knocked out based on every game.

Here we have compiled the views of both captains and experts who were having an eye on the game and how it panned out in the middle.

Captains’ take

The losing captain MS Dhoni of the Super Kings accepted the problems his side dealt with and as well as their inability to cope up with them. Dhoni said that the team committed far too many errors, but also lauded the team for not getting subversive due to the losing tide and he walked away from the campaign feeling proud of his boys.

“It was a difficult campaign. We committed a lot of errors. The last four games were a template of where we would like to be. Proud of the guys because if you're lagging behind for 7-8 games, it becomes really difficult. It's not easy, you won't want to be in a dressing room that's not enjoying cricket. Proud of them,” Dhoni said to the host broadcaster Star in the post-match presentation.

Discussing the possible easy forward or the franchise, Dhoni put the onus on the BCCI for the next auction and he suggested that the franchise will zero in with strategic moves and players acquisition that will serve them well for the next 10 seasons like it did when the franchise got in before the first IPL auction in 2008.

“A lot depends on what BCCI decides about the auction. We need to slightly change our core group and look for the next ten years. At the start of the IPL we made a team that served us well for ten years,” Dhoni added.

Addressing his and the CSK’s fans, Dhoni assured a stronger comeback and said that although the team did not fare well in the tournament, they finished with 14 points which could have been good enough for them to qualify. He said that only one team (hinting at Mumbai Indians) have played dominating cricket throughout this season.

“We'll come back strong. That's what we're known for. We are eighth in the table but 14 points and we could have qualified. This is a season where only one team played well or most teams played well,” Dhoni said in his message to fans.

He discussed at length about Ruturaj Gaikwad’s performances in the last three games and the class he brings to the table for the team. He also reasoned why he was not picked ahead of Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis to open the innings and said: “Whenever we have seen Rutu bat, he's somebody who has done well in net sessions. But we were not able to see him in games. Then he got Covid, and even after 20 days he was not fit. He didn't get time for us to gauge. That was one of the main reasons we kept going with Faf and Watson. It didn't work. But that's the point where you go with the experienced players.”

On the other hand, a dejected KL Rahul accepted without any fuss that his side could not handle the pressure the game brought and he batting failed as a unit when he was expecting a score in excess of 180 runs for the CSK to chase. “ It is as simple as that. We didn't bat really well. Big pressure game, we expected 180-190. We couldn't soak in the pressure,” Rahul said in the post-match interaction.

Discussing the two halves of the seasons when the team performed contrastingly differently and almost turned their season by winning almost everything that came their way in the second away after the first half when the team was failing to win even from the most comfortable situations.

“We didn't have the results going our way in the first half. The team still felt like we were playing good cricket. We were patchy. The bowling and batting weren't coming together in the first half, proud that we did it in the second half. Lots to be proud of as a team. a lot of "could have been,” Rahul analysed the Kings XI’s season.

KL Rahul was not to miss pointing out the game when the umpire had given a wrong decision of short-run and the KXIP ended up losing the game in a super over and said that it was disappointing for him to digest losses in games that could have been won easily. He also said that the KXIP players have only themselves to blame for not making it into the playoffs.

“It is disappointing. We had a lot of games in our pockets and we couldn't get over the line and we only have ourselves to blame. That short run game too looks like it has come back to bite us,” Rahul concluded his disappointment.

Experts’ take

Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle was overjoyed with what Depak Hooda had to offer to the Kings XI Punjab in the end overs.

He was equally impressed with Ruturaj Gaikwad and rated him as a matured player. He commended the team management to giving him the second chance which he has grabbed with both his hands.

Deepak Hooda won many accolades with his power-hitting against the CSK and one of them also came from Sanjay Manjrekar,  who as always, had his eyes open for details and numbers and outlined the brilliance Honda showed on the field with the bat.

He also expressed his happiness on IPL 2020 returning back to its normal days when CSK used to win many games.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra saw two different stories with the Kings XI Punjab and the Chennai Super Kings although the sides got knocked out with the equal number of points on the points table. He drew the inference that the CSK started winning when all their hopes were gone while the KXIP were rejuvenated seeing their hopes alive midway into the tournament.

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