On his captaincy debut, CSK’s Ruturaj Gaikwad was at the helm of some clever bowling changes, orchestrating an RCB top-order collapse in the opening fixture of IPL 2024. However, it wasn’t rosy all the way through.

Mustafizur Rahman, making his Chennai Super Kings debut, ran through RCB’s top half, and had figures of 2-0-7-4 at one point. It included the wickets of Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar in the same over, after which Deepak Chahar plucked out Glenn Maxwell for a first-ball duck. But from 78-5, RCB recovered, with the game in the balance at the halfway stage.

What’s interesting was how Gaikwad handled the powerplay, which began badly and ended well for CSK.

Ruturaj Gaikwad will be just the fourth player to lead Chennai Super Kings in IPL.#IPL2024 #MSDhoni #CSKvRCB pic.twitter.com/DXiy3wOJkM

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) March 22, 2024

The first three overs gave an indication that the surface had true bounce and a fast outfield, although there were a couple of instances when du Plessis was duped by lower bounce, and nearly cut in half. However, he was unbothered for the most part, playing through the line, and hitting deliveries on the up through covers. RCB were 33-0, 17 of which had come off Chahar’s last over. They were flying.

Gaikwad made his first change, and if doing so was forced, the bowler he went to wasn’t. He threw the ball to Maheesh Theekshana, a mystery spinner, and the run rate cooled instantly. Then, he removed Chahar as well. Chahar is a powerplay specialist. At the MA Chidambaram stadium, he has taken the most wickets by any bowler in the first six overs – 17. But he switched to Mustafizur, the two instances of odd bounce were probably a good enough indication that he could have success. Slower than Chahar and Tushar Deshpande, and heavily reliant on cutters, Mustafizur managed to deceive du Plessis – until that point easily hitting through the V – taking the pace off, and getting a toe-end of the bat. Rachin Ravindra, running in from deep point, took a diving catch.

Two balls later, Patidar was walking back, fishing at an angling delivery that moved away from him. Rooted to the crease, he only feathered an edge to MS Dhoni, probably expecting a slower one but getting more pace this time.

Next over, Chahar was brought back on. With the breakthrough found, he opted to go after another. It was an interesting move since Theekshana would have conventionally been a better match-up in the powerplay against Virat Kohli (his strike rate against off spin in IPL powerplays is 85.53). Instead, he chose to attack new man Glenn Maxwell with the right-arm quick’s prodigious – still new ball – swing. Maxwell opened the face, but only to hand Dhoni a simple catch.

Now Gaikwad made another decision. Three wickets had come in two overs, but the powerplay was done. Rather than chase more wickets, he removed Mustafizur from the attack. Ravindra Jadeja and Theekshana built pressure. After a one-run 11th over, Gaikwad went back to Mustafizur. Kohli tried to attack and holed out. Two balls later, Cameron Green was bowled too.

Gaikwad seemingly aced the first chapter of his IPL captaincy career, but it was just the start.

Dhoni, the joint-most successful IPL captain, handed over CSK’s leadership to Gaikwad a day before the season began. However, the 42-year-old was around to give advice: during the strategic time-out after the eighth over, he was seen giving advice to Gaikwad, with the new captain nodding in agreement. You could even spot Dhoni effecting fielding changes between deliveries. Maybe it wasn’t all Gaikwad after all.

It wasn’t smooth sailing all through: Deshpande, notorious for leaking runs at the death – his economy in overs 16-20 is 12.75 – bowled a 25-run 18th over, two wides included (trying to bowl wide of off). In the past, Dhoni would run up to Deshpande when the quick would leak runs, and guided him through a 21-wicket season last year, also his longest spell in the team in three years.

From 78-5 (11.4) to 173-6 (20).

What a recovery!#AnujRawat #DineshKarthik #IPL2024 #CSKvsRCB pic.twitter.com/ORS0zbtbNL

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) March 22, 2024

Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat powered through a 95-run stand off just 50 balls, negating much of the early work.

The decision to persist with Deshpande can be debated, with Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell also available as bowling options, who could have filled in the middle overs and relieved Deshpande of death-bowling duties. Also, the decision to have him over Shardul Thakur in the XI can be debated too.

By the end, RCB had managed to reach 173-6, a commendable recovery from 78-5 after 11.4 overs. On his first day as skipper, Gaikwad saw it all, winning some and losing some. “I want to be in my own shoes, I don’t want to fill Dhoni’s shoes” is what he said at the toss.

The highs and lows all come in the same package.