"Shivam Dube wasn't comfortable with the short ball"- RCB captain Faf du Plessis reflects on loss to CSK in Match 1 of IPL 2024

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis accepted that his bowlers didn't have enough runs to play with in their loss in the opening game of IPL 2024 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday, March 22.

Rachin Ravindra played an absolute blinder as his 37 off just 15 balls put Chennai ahead in the chase. While RCB kept clawing back with wickets in the middle overs, Du Plessis claimed that the hosts always had their noses in front.

Speaking to the host broadcaster after the end of the game, Faf du Plessis explained their plans, including peppering Shivam Dube with short balls.

"They were batting at a place where they were still in front of the game even though we were pulling it back. Obviously, Dube there, you could see, he wasn't comfortable with the short ball. So we tried to expose (the weakness) and get some wickets through the middle overs," Du Plessis said.

Dube remained unbeaten on 34 off 28 balls and added 66 runs for the fifth wicket alongside Ravindra Jadeja to take his team over the line in the chase of 174.

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Faf du Plessis on RCB's top-order collapse

RCB had raced to 41/0 in just 4.2 overs, with Faf du Plessis scoring a quick-fire 35. However, they lost momentum when Mustafizur Rahman dismissed both Du Plessis and Rajat Patidar in the same over.

Things soon went from bad to worse as the visitors were reduced to 42/3 with Maxwell gone too. Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik's sensational partnership worth 95 runs allowed RCB to post a fighting total of 173/6. However, Faf du Plessis claimed they should have scored 15-20 runs more on a good pitch. He stated:

"Unfortunately, we lost a little too many wickets in the first seven overs, after which the guys had to bat a little bit and stable the innings again. And, at the end, I felt we were 15 to 20 runs short on a pitch that wasn't as bad as we played in the first ten overs."

Mustafizur Rahman picked up sensational figures of 4/29 and also won the Player of the Match award for his stunning performance. With Matheesha Pathirana out injured, CSK will be hoping Mustafizur continues to deliver consistently.