As crucial as Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis’s fifties were in Chennai Super Kings getting their campaign off to a winning start, Sam Curran also played an important role in their five-wicket win against Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 opener. Picked ahead of Dwayne Bravo for the match as the West Indian was still recovering from a knee injury, Curran came up with a fine all-round show on Saturday (September 19) to leave CSK with tough selection choices going ahead.

Curran’s 1 for 28 from four overs was instrumental in restricting Mumbai Indians to 162 for 9 and later, he came up with a vital cameo with the bat. Following the dismissal of Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja came ahead of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav and the left-hander struck two fours off James Pattinson before being dismissed by Krunal Pandya. Dhoni sprang another surprise by not coming out to bat after the fourth wicket went down, instead pushing Curran up the order with 29 needed off 17 balls.

Curran justified Dhoni’s call as he scored a six and a four off successive deliveries before sending a Jasprit Bumrah delivery over the fence to all but seal the game as he brought it down to 10 off 11. Although he was dismissed by Bumrah, it was a job well done as he got the team closer to the target before du Plessis landed the finishing punches.

Speaking to iplt20.com, Curran expressed surprise over his promotion, and added that he went in with a “six or out mentality”, which just came off in this game. “To be honest, I was very surprised when Jadeja got out for me to go ahead of MS Dhoni. It was a big shock to me but the plan was obviously to go out there, have a go at them, if it comes off it comes off.”

Dhoni, who spoke at the post-match presentations, said sending the left-handers before him had a “psychological aspect” to it, as he wanted them to take on the spinners and intimidate them.

“At some point, I thought we needed to give Jadeja and someone like Sam [Curran] to go ahead in the batting order and express themselves,” Dhoni said after the match. “They still had two spinners remaining, and we tried to intimidate the bowler a bit, it was just a psychological aspect. We know we bat quite deep, and wanted them to go after the bowler. If you clear one or two [sixes], then it is easier for the batsmen to follow,” Dhoni explained.

Dhoni also said it got easier to bat as the second innings progressed with the dew setting in, and was among the “learnings” from the game. “We may practice enough but when you go on the field you need to assess the conditions and give it your best. It took us time for the bowlers to find the right length on this pitch. Plenty of positives but still plenty of areas for us to improve. In the second half there is a bit of movement till the dew sets in. If you don’t lose wickets early, you have the upper hand.”

Rohit Sharma also spoke about the dew factor, and stressed on the need to adapt better to the pitches and bat for longer periods. “None of our batsmen carried on for us, like du Plessis and Rayudu did for CSK. I think we were 85 in the first 10 overs. Credit to the CSK bowlers, they bowled well at the end to pull things back. Something for us to learn. Still early days. We all want to start really well, it’s crucial in this tournament where momentum is important.

“A few things for us to learn from this game, we did make a few mistakes. Hopefully we’ll rectify those and come out smarter in the next game … We need to adapt to the pitches, it got better with the dew coming. You need to hit the gaps and focus on that part of the game. The opposition can tie you down, it’s all about understanding what we need to do,” said Rohit.

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