CSK bowling coach praises Mustafizur Rahman’s performance in IPL opener

Chennai Super Kings bowling coach Eric Simons praised Mustafizur Rahman’s execution of his bowling plans in the IPL 2024 opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Mustafizur earned the Player of the Match award after taking 4 wickets for 29 runs at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Rahman picked up the prized wickets of Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar and Cameron Green, achieving impressive figures of 4 wickets for 14 runs in his first 3 overs. It was only in his final over that he conceded more runs. Thanks to his brilliant spell, Chennai Super Kings limited Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 173 for 6. Chennai then chased down the total comfortably, winning by 6 wickets.

In the press conference following the game, Simons was quoted as saying

“We have to balance the squad according to the surface. We have been working on a left arm seamer which could be useful in the game. We felt he is optimum for the conditions, but we kept things simple. Sticking to the gameplan has always been our trademark, and Fizz followed it perfectly.”

‘Deshpande will be back’

Simons backed pacer Tushar Deshpande, saying he hope Deshpande find his groove in the next game after his difficult outing on Friday (4-0-47-0). Deshpande, Chennai’s top wicket-taker in the last season, has looked sharp in the nets with both the new ball and at the death. “We are known to back players, so that they learn from their rough days and we don’t believe in changing the players after just one bad outing. He would learn from tonight,” Simons added.

The defending IPL champions will face Gujarat Titans on Tuesday March 26 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.