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Rajasthan Royals thrashed Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets to start off their IPL 2026 campaign with a win. The Royals put on a clinical display to leave CSK reeling after the first match of the season.
Speaking after the defeat, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said that RR`s brilliant bowling restricted CSK`s top order. He further added that CSK were around 30-40 runs short at the end of the first season.
Ruturaj Gaikwad said,” I felt the conditions at the start were really tough, especially when facing Jofra and Burger. They bowled brilliant lengths, and even after that, to a medium-pacer, it was slightly tough. You could see even the spinners were getting some assistance as well. Yes, we would have been better in batting, we would have taken the game deep, showed some batsmanship, maybe take the game till 150-160.”
The CSK captain also added that despite losing the toss, his team should have played positive cricket. Gaikwad hoped that the team`s batting will come back strongly in the next league games.
“Today it didn`t work, but we can be better in batsmanship. You just have to be positive, especially when you`re batting first. If conditions are good, you never know, the same batting line-up can put a good score,” he added.
Riyan Parag delighted with a win in his first match as RR`s full-time captain
Winning captain Riyan Parag was delighted with the win and praised his players for the outstanding performance. Parag heaped praise on his openers, who took the game away from CSK in the powerplay. He also mentioned the impact of Ravindra Jadeja in this Rajasthan Royals team.
“I got lucky with the toss. We knew that the moisture was going to play a part. Everyone executed their plans. A lot of prep has gone into it. The goal this year to win the trophy. We want to be a team that wants to play smart cricket. Brijesh, what he did was insane. What I tell him (Vaibhav) is he`s going to play 14 games. He goes and does something like that. Really happy to have him in my team. Dhruv comes in at three, Hettie at five. Hopefully, we win with this batting line-up.”Riyan Parag said.
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