Sunil Gavaskar reveals the reason why CSK lost the game

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar said that it was unfortunate to see MS Dhoni was not able to finish the chase despite being with Shivam Dube when the young all-rounder was hitting it big in their unsuccessful pursuit of 181 against Punjab Kings on Sunday in Mumbai. CSK suffered their 3rd consecutive defeat, which is their worst start to an IPL season, after a 54-run loss to PBKS at the Brabourne Stadium. Chasing 181, Chennai got off to a poor start as they were reduced to 36/5 in the 8th over and they never recovered from that early jolt.

Later, Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni stitched a 62-run stand to resurrect the innings and keep CSK in the race, with the former scoring a quick-fire fifty. Dube hit 57 from just 30 balls with three sixes and six boundaries, but he departed in the 15th over. MS Dhoni played a scratchy inning and couldn't steer his side past the victory line

Dhoni finished with 23 off 28 after being caught down the leg of Rahul Chahar. CSK were bowled out for 126 in just 18 overs, handing PBKS a convincing victory.

While talking about Dhoni, Gavaskar said that the veteran keeper could have done better, especially with Dube on the other side.

"With MSD, you see that even if he doesn't start hitting the big ones, he is moving the strike along, getting those ones and twos. He wasn't quite able to do that this time around. That's where CSK got stuck just that little bit," Gavaskar told Star Sports. 

"If they had a situation where Shivam Dube was hitting the ball so well, they needed to get a move on along with him. That didn't quite happen. Although look at some of those dot balls that he played, yes, later on, he made up with the boundaries. When you are looking to score 20 runs an over, that's tough for the best of players; it's not easy."

The former CSK opener Matthew Hayden also echoed Gavaskar's comments, claiming the lack of support for Shivam Dube.

"It was a high-class innings from Shivam Dube. But unfortunately, no one could support him. Even MS was off his game a little bit with a stroke rate of 80. So they were playing catch-up cricket," he said.

However, Gavaskar also said that there would be massive pressure on new captain Ravindra Jadeja after the poor start to their campaign. But he also said that all is not over for them yet, and he thinks CSK can take inspiration from Kolkata Knight Riders' season to the final in the last edition.

Meanwhile, CSK has a 5-day break before their next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the DY Patil Stadium.