Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni had some heartwarming words for the crowd at Sawai Mansingh Stadium as CSK lost to Rajasthan Royals by 32 runs. After conceding 202 in the first innings, Chennai's all-firing batting fell short and suffered their first loss after three straight wins.
After the game, speaking in his post-match interview, Dhoni thanked the fans for supporting the Super Kings in Jaipur and further expressed that the venue of this fixture, Sawai Mansingh Stadium, holds a special place in his heart as he got his highest ODI score here.
MS Dhoni had smashed 183 runs against Sri Lanka in 2005 when the Men in Blue were chasing 298 runs. He said, "I think my first ODI hundred in Vizag gave me some 10 games, but the 183 over here gave me the chance for one year, so this venue is close to my heart."
Further in the interview, Dhoni listed the reasons behind the CSK's lost and pointed out how the extra boundaries which went of the edges helped RR post this massive total. He said, " It (target) was quite a bit above par. The reason was the first six overs, gave too many runs, but at the same time, the pitch was best to bat on at that time. "
"Even when they were finishing the edges kept going for boundaries. They got a par+ score and we were not able to stop the runs. I felt his (Pathirana) bowling was very good, not that he bowled badly. The scorecard doesn't reflect how well he bowled."
The Chennai Super Kings captain had some praiseful words for Rajasthan batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, who played some great knocks in the first innings. He said, "Yashasvi batted really well, important to go after the bowlers, took calculated risks. It was slightly easier against our bowlers because we had to assess the right lengths. Even then Yashasvi batted well at the top end and at the end, Jurel batted really well. "
