With five losses in 10 games, Chennai Super Kings are at a crucial juncture in the IPL 2024. They are still in the top 4 but have won only one out of their last 4 matches. With the business end of the IPL 2024 fast approaching, CSK would be wary of the other teams. Any mistake from hereon might see them go down the ladder in the race for play-offs. Only the top-four teams play in IPL playoffs. However, there has been a great news for CSK in the form of new captain Rituraj Gaikwad.

The skipper is now the top run-getter in the IPL 2024 and surpassed Virat Kohli on Wednesday to win the Orange Cap. Gaikwad scored 62 against Punjab Kings and is now on 509 runs in 10 matches. Virat Kohli has 500 runs in 10 matches.

After CSK lost the match to PBKS, despite Gaikwad’s performance, some fans started abusing Gaikwad, since he surpassed Kohli to get the Orange Cap. But he received support from a section of the fans too.

After Lucknow Super Giants breached Chepauk, CSK’s fortress was breached for the second time in the ongoing season as CSK bowlers struggled to find their rhythm with dew majorly hindering them throughout the night.

“Probably 50-60 runs short, the pitch wasn’t great when we batted, but it got better later on. With the impact rule as well, we were well short,” Gaikwad said in a post-match presentation.

Talking about the toss, “I’ve practised the tosses (during the practice sessions), it’s not going well in the match, not sure what to do. To be truthful, I’m under pressure when I go to the middle (for the toss).”

The five-time champions registered a 78-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday.

“We were also surprised that we won by a big margin in the last match considering the conditions (win by 78 runs against SRH). I think the last two games, the conditions and pitch was better, it allowed us to fight hard and get to 200+, today, it wasn’t good enough to get to even 180,” Gaikwad added.

With ANI inputs