New Chandigarh, April 8: After losing their fourth straight game, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad narrowed down their recent losses to poor execution in the field after suffering an 18-run defeat against the Punjab Kings in Match 22 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 here on Tuesday.

The five-time champions gave two lifelines to opener Priyansh Arya, the first on the second ball of the game as he went on to raise hell and score the second-fastest century by an Indian in IPL history.

Gaikwad believes, after a disappointing batting performance in the recent losses, his side was spot-on while chasing and the extra runs conceded took the game away for them.

“In the last four games, that is the only point of difference. It has been very critical. Every time we drop the catch, the same batter is adding 20-25-30 runs extra. If you leave out the RCB game, the last three chases, it was a matter of one or two or maybe three hits.

“If we had executed well, and at the end of the day, it also comes down to the dropped catches. Today was spot-on from a batting perspective. This is what we wanted. Our best batters, who can play pace very well, played up the order and had a brilliant powerplay. It was a better, improved performance and many positives,” said Gaikwad in the post-match presentation.

One of the most surprising moments of the game was CSK’s decision to retire opener Devon Conway, who was batting at 69, while MS Dhoni was hitting sixes from the other end as the Kiwi batter struggled to continue the momentum he had in the opening 10 overs.

Gaikwad reflected on the decision to call him back to the pavilion and send Ravindra Jadeja in his stead. “Devon is more of a timer of a ball. Very useful at the top of the order. Jaddu, his role is completely different. You know the batsman is struggling. We waited for him to time it and then changed when we thought it was necessary,” added Gaikwad.

Mumbai, April 8: Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar hailed Virat Kohli’s 67-run knock in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 12-run win over Mumbai Indians, noting that the right-hander’s intent to play lofted shots much earlier in the innings worked beautifully for him.

Kohli led the RCB charge with a classy 67 off 42, his second half-century of the season, while skipper Rajat Patidar’s 64 off 32 and Jitesh Sharma’s quickfire 40 off 21 powered the visitors to a commanding 221/5 against MI.

Kohli, showcasing vintage flair, welcomed Jasprit Bumrah by clobbering a six over mid-wicket before bringing up his second half-century of the season, launching Vignesh Puthur into the stands. His sensational knock came to an end when he fell victim to Hardik Pandya in the 15th over.

“The big difference over the last season and a half has been his intent to play lofted shots much earlier. Earlier, those lofted shots would come later in the innings, but now he’s looking to take risks from ball one, and that’s making a huge difference. Bowlers who were prepared for his drives and flicks are now seeing the ball going over the infield for boundaries. That change in mindset has thrown the bowlers off, and it’s working beautifully for him.”

In reply, MI skipper Pandya (42 off 15) and Tilak Varma (56 off 29) launched a sensational counterattack after the top order collapse, threatening to pull off a stunning chase. But Krunal Pandya (4-45), Yash Dayal (2-46) and Josh Hazlewood (2-37) came good with the ball to restrict Mumbai Indians to 209/9, sealing the 12-run win to end their 10-year drought at Wankhede Stadium.

Gavaskar lauded Krunal’s performance while defending the score for RCB and said his bowling reminds him of one of the greatest Indian all-rounders, Vinoo Mankad.

“I’ve always admired him for the sharpness with which he plays his cricket and in his thinking. He makes up with his temperament for any minor deficiencies he might have — and frankly, he doesn’t have too many. He’s a fine batter and a clever bowler. When he bowls, he actually reminds me of how Vinoo Mankad used to be.

“Mankad wasn’t a huge turner of the ball, but he had subtle variations — line and length, changes of pace, occasional bounce, and even a high full toss kind of beamer. Krunal Pandya has that same kind of variety. No wonder the captain had the confidence to hand him the ball for the final over. That kind of trust speaks volumes,” said Gavaskar.

RCB have won three of their four games so far and are sitting third in the table. They will next play Delhi Capitals (DC) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.

New Delhi, April 7: Former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher hailed Shubman Gill’s captain’s knock of unbeaten 61 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, noting that despite losing a couple of wickets around him, the opener never appeared to be in a panic and maintained his focus throughout.

After GT restricted SRH to 152/8, courtesy of Mohammed Siraj claiming his career-best IPL figures of 4-17 along with the contributions from Prasidh Krishna (2-25) and Sai Kishore (2-24), skipper Gill led the chase with an unbeaten 61 off 43, with Washington Sundar and Sherfane Rutherford’s free-flowing knocks helping GT to secure a seven-wicket win with 20 balls to spare.

The victory made it a hat-trick of wins for GT, who have jumped up to second place on the points table.

“They’re sitting pretty at the moment, and they’ll take a lot of heart from this one as well. It’s tough to win away from home these days, especially the way that they won. They were very convincing with the ball – they did the job a lot better than I thought the Sunrisers did. They lost their way a little bit up front, but then the captain (Shubman Gill) came through and played a fantastic captain’s knock.

“He never looked like he was panicking at all, even though he was losing a couple of wickets around him. It’s not about the run rate that you have to look at – it’s more about the volume of runs and the calmness with which he batted. It was a great captain’s innings, and he’ll be ecstatic with this one, especially away from home,” Boucher said on JioHotstar.

Boucher also commented on SRH’s performance after they slumped to their fourth successive loss to be rooted at the bottom of the table and said there was a lack of confidence in Pat Cummins-led side’s batting line-up, adding that SRH was 30–40 runs short of the competitive total.

“I think they knew that the wicket they were playing on this evening wasn’t the same as what they’ve been exposed to before. You could see they were trying to play a little more responsibly. It looked like there was a lack of confidence in their batting line-up as well. Every time they wanted to have a go, a wicket fell.

“There was never really a partnership where they could kick on – I think that’s where they ended up being 15–20 runs short. Or maybe 15–20 runs wouldn’t have been enough – maybe they were 30–40 runs short. But yes, it just didn’t suit their style of cricket, playing on this particular pitch tonight,” he added.