Chennai: It wasn’t exactly a risk-free innings, but Anirudha Srikkanth’s 64-ball 55 was special since it gave Chennai Super Kings (CSK) the early momentum after Murali Vijay departed.

The 24-year-old, who was tinkered with in the middle order till IPL-III, was a surprise choice to open the Chennai innings. Anirudha vindicated the faith shown by his franchise owners and the captain on his capability by winning the Man of the Match award.

“I really wanted to open the innings for Chennai. Before this season I did talk to the owners and I did tell them that if there is any chance to open I am willing to put my hand up and take the opportunity to do so,” Anirudha said after the match.

The CSK opener felt the wicket was two-paced but didn’t want to tag it a non-T20 wicket.

“It was a tricky wicket. Initially, I thought the wicket played very well, but towards the middle overs I realised it was a bit two-paced and we knew that any target between 150 and 160 would be a good target,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu batsman played with enough confidence till he was done in by a Jacques Kallis delivery. He got his basics right, showed application and flourished consequently. However, Anirudha felt he started well, but slowed down in the middle overs where he could have done better.

“To be honest, initially I thought I was very much in control but towards the end as the wicket got slower I also got slow… Probably, I should have got 10 to 15 runs more,” he said.

CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that the total secured was not impressive, but playing with a new set of players, he thought it was a job well done.

“It was a first game with a new team, something like when you get a new car… You want to break it in, but you don’t want to ‘break it’,” Dhoni said after the match.