Ruturaj Gaikwad blamed his players for Chennai Super Kings’ five-wicket loss to Punjab Kings in their IPL match on Friday, saying the day off from them hurt the team despite the strong total on the board.Chennai Super Kings scored 209 for 5, with Aayush Mhatre scoring 73 off 43 balls. But Punjab Kings chased down the target by 18.4 runs, led by skipper Shreyas Iyer, who scored 50.After the match, Gaikwad pointed to the performance of his players Noor Ahmed and Rahul Chahar as a major factor in the defeat. Chennai had seam options like Gurjapneet Singh and Jamie Overton available as impact substitutes but opted to bring on Chahar.“We felt we had three seamers, and obviously we had two good bowlers (Noor Ahmed and Rahul Chahar) playing alongside each other, especially in the middle after the power play. We felt that would help us, you know,” Gaikwad said.“But I think, you know, the rest day was simple for both of them. So, I think that’s what cost us. Sometimes we did really well. And sometimes we didn’t execute at the right time.”He said that the team cannot press in the middle of the field.
“There was a point when (the required run rate) got to 11, and a couple of good passes could have led to 12-13. We didn’t get the momentum in the middle (with the ball).”Gaikwad added that the batting had its positives, with contributions from Mhatre and Shivam Dubey, but said the bowling needed to improve.Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said that the starts made by openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhasimran Singh played a big role in the chase.“The way we started today was an exceptional start for us. I feel that the way they (Arya and Prabhasimran) were batting was fantastic and helped stabilize the rhythm for us,” Iyer said.“I’m happy that everyone has started playing with the bat. It gives the team tremendous confidence. When we’re in a pressure situation, people know how to deal with it. We’ve just decided in the dressing room, that we’re going to play a kind of cricket to impress each other – that gives us a certain kind of clarity, and basically challenge each other.”In the chase, Iyer’s 50 off 29 balls and his 59-run stand with Nehal Wadhera helped Punjab reach 210 for five. The target was 209Punjab also got contributions from Priyansh Arya (39 off 11), Prabhasimran Singh (43 off 34) and Cooper Connolly (36 off 22).Iyer started slowly, scoring 8 off 9 balls as Connolly took over. After Connolly fell to Anshul Kamboj, Iyer took control and targeted the spinners. He reached his fifty off 26 balls but was later dismissed by Kamboj while taking a wide delivery.Punjab completed the chase with 18.4 overs, handing Chennai their second successive loss.