IPL 2018: Ajinkya Rahane analyses the crushing loss at the hands of SRH

The eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed the most one-sided game of the tournament so far on Monday. While Chennai Super Kings (CSK) scripted a fairytale comeback, Royals were annihilated by the disciplined Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The hosts had a perfect outing against the hapless Rajasthan unit on the day as they succumbed to a nine-wicket loss. However, the skipper Ajinkya Rahane has listed the lack of partnerships as one of the reasons for their crushing defeat.

Royals were placed comfortably at 48/1 after the end of the powerplay at one stage, but then the game turned on its head as Rahane and Ben Stokes were dismissed in the space of 14 deliveries. The momentum changed hands soon as the bowlers of SRH packed a punch together and left the opposition gasping for breath. As it turned RR could only post 125 runs on the board and the score was chased down by Sunrisers easily with 9 wickets in hand.

We lost crucial wickets in between

Ajinkya Rahane, while speaking in the post-match presser after the loss, blamed the lack of partnerships as the reason for their loss. “I think first of all, we thought on this wicket, 150-160 would’ve been an ideal total because the ball was doing a bit and the medium pacers had good help on this wicket. But we didn’t get that one partnership. We lost crucial wickets in between,” he said.

Not surprisingly, the questioned popped up about the team missing Steve Smith in their line-up as Rahane felt that it was past and they have to move forward in the tournament.

“D’Arcy Short did really well in the Big Bash, even for Australia recently, Jos Buttler and Stokes we all know how dangerous they are, Ben Laughlin is an experienced bowler in T20 cricket and did well in the Big Bash in Australia. Klaasen is also there… He didn’t get a game but he did well against us in South Africa in T20 cricket. Definitely, Steve Smith is a quality player, but we are not thinking about him right now,” he concluded.

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Here’s our video of the day:

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