Delhi Capitals suffered a four-wicket defeat in a close encounter against the Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2021, and opening batsman Prithvi Shaw expressed that the loss is a tough one to digest for the team.
Shaw also said that CSK captain MS Dhoni took the “game away” from the Capitals here on Sunday. Half-centuries from Shaw and captain Rishabh Pant helped the Capitals post a total of 172/5 in their 20 overs before the Super Kings chased down the total in 19.4 overs on Sunday.
“At the moment, we have to back each other. The entire team takes the responsibility for our performance, whether we win or lose. We’ll try and come back stronger in the next match. It’s a tough loss to digest for the team. However, we have one more match through which we can qualify for the Final and I believe in each and everyone in the team. They are all great players — talent and skill-wise. I really believe that we can do something special in the next match and go through to the Final,” Shaw said.
Asked about Dhoni’s blistering innings of 18 runs from 6 balls in the death overs, Shaw said, “MS Dhoni is something different, everyone knows that. We have seen him finish games so many times and it’s nothing new for him or for us to see him do that. He’s definitely a dangerous player whenever he bats. I feel very lucky to be in this atmosphere and get a chance to watch him as a batsman and a leader. He took the game away from us.”
Shaw, who played a brilliant knock of 60 runs from 34 balls, felt that he should have batted for a longer time, “I am happy with my knock, but I feel I should have played a longer innings. This is a lesson for me. When I am in the same situation again, I’ll try to bat for a longer time.”
The Capitals will take on the winner of the Eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier 2 for a place in the IPL 2021 Final at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on Wednesday.
