IPL 2020 | CSK needed such starts from openers; franchise’s trust paid off, proclaims Faf du Plessis

It was a do-or-die kind of situation for the three-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings. After the massive win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the first game of the season, the Men in Yellow succumbed to three consecutive losses, which was a huge roadblock to their path to playoffs. However, they turned their season around with a ten-wicket victory against Kings XI Punjab, chasing a total of 179 for victory. 

In particular, the CSK openers - Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson put on a show with a partnership never seen before in IPL history for the opening wicket for the Men in Yellow. The duo caressed the ball in the gaps early on before the muscles took over with swashbuckling shots. Following the game, CSK opener Faf du Plessis proclaimed that CSK needed this start from their openers. He further even opined that the franchise’s decision to back players came good. 

“Our dressing room and management were calm. Obviously, we didn’t quite perform the way we would like at the top of the order. However, the franchise’s decision making of keeping the same team with faith with such calmness came out good because they are some good players in the team,” said Faf du Plessis in a video posted by IPL. 

“The team needed a good start from both of us. That’s most pleasing, it sets up the big hitters to smoke it from ball one,” he added. 

However, the South African believes that things started clicking for CSK against SRH, where they were dusting off rustiness from the outfit. Alongside that, he admitted that such a partnership up front makes it extremely easy to chase down such totals. 

“Ya I thought even in the previous match, things started clicking a little bit. With the return of Bravo, the experience too came back. He’s a big player for us, Sam too has been in good touch. Previous game if we bowled a bit better, we would have done better. It looked like a par-score today. If you have a partnership like we had, its relatively easy to chase.”

At the other end, Shane Watson, who was on the wrong end of the form thus far, admitted that it was amazing to spend quality time in the middle with his batting partner, du Plessis. After scores of 4,33, 14 and 1, the Australian all-rounder needed to get that one knock, the break from jail knock which would put him back on track. Punjab’s bowling unit came in as a blessing for that as Watson struck a quality 53-ball 83* in a fine display of batting at the top. 

“It was amazing to spend some time in the middle with my mate, Faf. It’s amazing how a little bit of change in mindset and technical things could make a big difference to the result. It was nice to get the win and get our way back. The faith the management continues to show on the players goes a long way to giving the players confidence. I think we complement each other because we take on different kind of bowlers,” Watson added.