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'Chennai Super Kings could have won Champions League T20'

Last updated on: October 23, 2012 08:32 IST

Former champions Chennai Super Kings made an early exit from Champions League Twenty20, but their key batsman, Suresh Raina, said his side could have won the tournament but for a few slip-ups.

"It's disappointing that we did not qualify for the semi-finals.

"I still feel we could have won this championship. We had committed some mistakes, but we're going home," Raina said, after Chennai beat Yorkshire by four wickets in their last match.

'MS told me to enjoy the captaincy'

Last updated on: October 23, 2012 08:32 IST

Raina captained the side on Monday with regular skipper Mahandra Singh Dhoni playing under him. Asked about it, he replied: "MS told me to enjoy the captaincy, it was a good opportunity for me today.

"We bowled really well."

Asked about the Kingsmead pitch, he said, "The ball came on slowly, and it was holding a bit."

'We were unlucky in a couple of close games'

Last updated on: October 23, 2012 08:32 IST

Man-of-the-match S Badrinath agreed with his captain's assessment of the pitch, saying, "The ball wasn't coming on. So we decided to take our time, had a couple of partnerships and that's what got us home. Once you take your time, you can play your shots.

"We were unlucky in a couple of close games -- 10 runs either side. But we'll come back stronger next year," said Badrinath, who top-scored for Chennai with a 38-ball 47.

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale felt his side was 20 runs short while batting and that cost them the match.

"I thought we were 15-20 runs short. When we started to get some momentum we kept losing wickets, and we were sloppy in the field as well. Loved playing in the Champions League, thanks to the messages we got from our supporters," he said.