We pulled off the fourth-highest run chase in the history of IPL against Punjab Kings on Wednesday by hunting down 214. It took some doing to perform a MI-racle in Mohali but our boys led by SKY Dada and Ishan Kishan were in no mood to let go of  two crucial points. 

Nehal Wadhera, our middle-order southpaw, spoke to the media at the post-match press conference after the team got over the line in a fast and furious run chase, and was delighted that the hard work put in by the squad was being reflected in the results. “We are playing practice matches among ourselves by making two teams from the squad. Both the teams are posting 200+ consistently so a lot of confidence for these kinds of run chases is coming from those practice matches,” he said. 

Chasing down 200+ plus scores against quality top bowling sides like RR and PBKS shows the quality of our batting line-up. But Wadhera opined that it was the Impact Player rule added depth to the batting lineup, and threw his weight behind our bowlers. 

“We have great faith in our bowlers. All teams are scoring huge scores this season so it is not that the bowlers are doing something wrong. 

"The Impact Player rule also gives the batters a bit of freedom to play fearlessly as they know they have an extra batter in their wings. The rule has also led to more close finishes in the IPL which we love to watch.”

So SKY’s mind-boggling shots and his ability to find new areas to score almost seems like a joke. But Nehal knows (and now sees!) the effort that goes into honing them. 

“No doubt, he (Suryakumar Yadav) is a 360-degree player. He practices his shot a lot of times in the net and that’s why those shots seem like they come naturally to him.

“He is one of the finest T20 batters in the world. He doesn’t shy away from giving us good tips on how to pull off those extravagant shots. We learn a lot from him.”

Right then, after that brilliant run chase by us against Punjab Kings, we now head to Chepauk for an El Clasico clash against CSK on Saturday (May 6). Just like the case with Punjab, there’s some unfinished business for our boys against the team in Yellow. It’s time to paint Chennai in Blue and Gold!