Chahar shines Put into bat, Chennai lost Ajinkya Rahane (9) early. Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell (30) put on 57 off 32 balls for the second wicket. Wrist spinner Rahul Chahar then took 3-23 in four overs to restrict the visiting side. He dismissed Gaikwad and then big-hitting Shivam Dube for a golden duck.
Chennai Super Kings Ravindra Jadeja plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2024 against Punjab Kings in Dharamsala on May 5, 2024. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy Chennai Super Kings’ all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja admitted that they fell short by 15-20 runs but lauded their disciplined bowling show in securing a convincing 28-run over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League in Dharamsala on May 5. Defending 167 for nine, the five-time champions restricted Punjab Kings to 139/9 with Jadeja claiming a match-winning 3/20, while Tushar Deshpande (2/35) and impact sub Simarjeet Singh (2/16) also featured among wickets. Mitchell Santner, who was playing his first match of the season, was also brilliant during his tidy 1/10 from three overs. “We thought we were 15-20 runs short but we did not bowl loose balls in the power play and in the middle overs,” Jadeja said at the post-match presentation. “The fast bowlers bowled well in the power play. Tushar got two important wickets and then Mitch and me did the job in the middle overs.” Jadeja struck a crucial 26-ball 43 and the knock came at a time when PBKS were chipping away with regular wickets. Jadeja said it was tricky batting in the middle overs. “It was a day game, so the wicket was slow. As usual, it was expected because it was so hot. “It (the pitch) always seems flat in the power play. But when the ball gets old, it does not always come on. When playing at a new venue, you don’t know how much it will turn or stop. “My role as a batter is to build partnerships and then play the big shots towards the end. Sometimes, when we lose wickets in the power play, we do not get momentum. In the matches we win, we play all phases well,” said Jadeja. Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad made a 21-ball 32, while Daryl Mitchell looked in full flow in a 19-ball 30, taking the team to 60/1 in the power play. Everyone believed that the wicket was slow and the ball was coming off slow. There was low bounce too. With the start we got, we could have pushed to 180-200. We lost wickets in consecutive balls and then felt 160-170 was probably ten odd runs short,” said Gaikwad. It’s not too late for Simarjeet: Gaikwad Simarjeet impressed with his pace after he came in as an Impact Player replacing Ajinkya Rahane. “I don’t know what he is doing but in the pre-season we had, he was bowling at around 150s. “We had Deepak (Chahar), Shardul (Thakur), Tushar (Deshpande) plus (Matheesha) Pathirana and Fizz (Mustafizur Rahman), so he did not get too many chances. Nothing is late, he got a game today. “We were thinking of sending an impact batter but we thought the impact batter would score 10-15 runs but the bowler might get us two-three wickets,” Gaikwad said.
DHARAMSALA, India — Ravindra Jadeja put in an allround performance to help Chennai Super Kings beat Punjab Kings by 28 runs in the Indian Premier League on Sunday. Chennai Super Kings end 5-match losing streak against Punjab Kings with 28-run win in IPL Jadeja scored 43 runs off 26 balls to anchor Chennai’s innings to 167-9 and then took 3-20 in four overs to help restrict Punjab’s chase to 139-9. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! It was only Chennai’s second win in the last five games, and also ended its five-match losing streak against Punjab. Put into bat, Chennai lost Ajinkya Rahane early. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell put on 57 off 32 balls for the second wicket. Wrist spinner Rahul Chahar then took 3-23 in four overs to restrict the visiting side. He dismissed Gaikwad and then big-hitting Shivam Dube for a golden duck. Sam Curran dismissed Moeen Ali for 17 as Chennai was reduced to 101-5 in 12.4 overs. Jadeja guided Chennai to a challenging total on a two-paced wicket. He hit three fours and two sixes, while Harshal Patel’s death spell didn’t allow excess run-scoring. MS Dhoni batted at No. 9 — for the first time – and Patel bowled him for a golden duck. In reply, Punjab’s top order crumbled. Tushar Deshpande dismissed Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw for a three-ball duck in the space of four balls. Impact player Prabhsimran Singh scored 30 off 23 balls, and along with Shashank Singh’s 20-ball 27 helped rebuild the innings from 9-2. Jadeja didn’t allow the middle order to get away, sending back Singh as well as Curran . Pacer Simarjeet Singh came on as impact sub and took 2-16 in three overs as Punjab’s chase never looked a threat. Shardul Thakur and Mitchell Santner took a wicket each. Despite missing key bowlers, Chennai put in an all-round bowling performance to restrict the hosts. Chennai moved up to third with 12 points, ahead of Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad on net run-rate. Punjab’s hopes of qualification took a blow. It’s eighth in the 10-team league with eight points. Lucknow hosts Kolkata Knight Riders in the second game on Sunday. cricket: /hub/cricket This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Shreyas Iyer was being groomed as the next Indian captain after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, said former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad. Iyer, a regular in all three formats not too long ago, is going through a challenging phase after losing his central contract for 2024-25 for not playing in the Ranji Trophy despite the board’s orders. The talented right-hander has not been at his absolute best with the bat in IPL 2024 either, having scored 257 runs in 10 matches. But his captaincy has been superb. Kolkata Knight Riders sit at No.2 in the IPL points table with seven wins in 10 matches and stand a good chance of qualifying for the playoffs. Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Shreyas Iyer(AFP) Prasad said Iyer was groomed for the leadership role, unlike Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja. He has a better chance of succeeding at the highest level when he gets the opportunity. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! “Shreyas Iyer, unlike Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja has been groomed (as a captain). He has come through a system,” Prasad told Rev Sports. The former India keeper-batter said Iyer was ahead of Rishabh Pant when the selection committee looked at options to prepare for the post-Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma era. Prasad said Iyer had a pretty good record while captaining India A. “If you go back to the stats, in the last two years, when we were at the helm, Shreyas Iyer led the side (India A). I think out of 10 series that India A played, we won 8. In the majority of those series, Shreyas led the side. He has been in and around as captain. He has been groomed for that particular slot. We felt that post Virat, post Rohit Sharma, you needed someone to lead the side that’s when we started thinking about Shreyas Iyer or Rishabh Pant. But even ahead of Pant was Iyer as a captain,” he added. Iyer first big leadership exposure came in 2018 when Gautam Gambhir quit as the Delhi Capitals captain midway through the season and handed over the reins to a young Iyer. Prasad said Iyer was fortunate to start his leadership career under Ricky Ponting, who was the head coach of DC. “He was fortunate enough to get to lead Delhi Capitals under Ricky Ponting. The grooming process began there. It was unfortunate that DC could not hang on to Iyer as Rishabh stepped into his shoes and did reasonably well. The best part was that he moved away from DC so that KKR could give him captaincy responsibility.” After a shoulder injury in early 2021, the right-hander couldn’t take part in the first leg of IPL 2021 and eventually lost the captaincy to Rishabh Pant for the whole season. He was released and picked up by KKR in the mega auction ahead of IPL 2022. Prasad said Iyer has shown signs of maturing into a very good leader. “He is slowly maturing into a very good leader. It’s very important at the start of your captaincy career to have a good team management. That’s what he’s getting from KKR. He is young, and they are going to invest in him. In the next two or three years, we will see Shreyas evolve into a wonderful captain.”
NEW DELHI: Former Australian captain Aaron Finch conveyed his “surprise” regarding the composition of the Indian squad announced by the BCCI for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.The squad includes four spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav, among the 15 selected players set to represent India in the tournament taking place in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to 29.Sharing his thoughts, Finch said, “I was surprised by the four spinners as well. I had Rinku in there and only two spinners.”“In my initial squad, I had the extra quick because I think, because of the inconsistency that we have seen with everyone bar Jasprit Bumrah with the ball, especially in the powerplay, I wanted the extra cover of that quick. And if they want to play three spinners in the game, one of them has to be prepared to bowl in the powerplay, and I don’t see any of those guys doing it consistently, so I think they’ve backed themselves into a corner slightly,” Finch told Star Sports.However, former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop expressed his approval of the selection, noting the potential behavior of pitches in the West Indies and the USA during the T20 World Cup.Bishop remarked that having four spinners in the squad could be considered a luxury rather than a necessity, indicating their adaptability to varying pitch conditions.“I guess spin will play a part in the tournament. The only concern I have is that the pitches for the World Cup may be slightly different from the ones we have seen in bilateral series or domestic tournaments. So I think it’s a luxury to have four spinners rather than it being a necessity.”(With IANS inputs)
NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja pulled off a miraculous one-handed stunner to send Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul packing for 82 in Lucknow in Indian Premier League match on Friday.Often regarded as a live wire on the field and one of the greatest fielders of his time, Jadeja showcased sensational hand-eye co-ordination to pluck a blinder out of thin air.The incident took place on the first ball of the 18th over when Matheesha Pathirana threw a back of length delivery wide outside off. As Rahul saw room, he threw his bat at it middled. The ball flew straight to backward-point, close to where Jadeja was positioned. As the ball travelled to him in a blink of an eye, Jadeja leaped to his left, putting out his hand and the ball just stuck. Seeing the superhuman effort, a stunned CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad could only manage to put his hand on the mouth. “Ohh! What a catch. Is that the catch of the IPL? Wow! That (ball) was flying like a tracer bullet and he has just plucked it out of thin air as if its nothing,” said a highly excited Ravi Shastri on-air. Despite Jadeja blinder that ended Rahul’s knock, his 53-ball 82 powered Lucknow to a solid eight-wicket win over CSK.Chasing a tricky 177, Rahul and Quinton de Kock (54) smashed superb fifties as LSG crossed the finish line with 6 balls to spare. With the comfortable victory, Lucknow returned to winning ways after suffering two back-to-back defeats.
Heinrich Klaasen has transformed his batting superbly according to the modern day requirements. He is now a six-hitting machine possessing the ability to turn the game on its head from any position. The man is currently playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has already scored 186 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 193.75 with 17 sixes to his name. On the contrary, the wicketkeeper-batter has only hit seven fours. Klaasen is one of the toughest batters to bowl at these days. However, he finds it challenging to face two Indian spinners – Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja. Talking about Chahal who is playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL, Klaasen recalls getting out to him on a couple of occasions but also rejoices smashing him for sixes. At the same time, the Proteas batter has also lauded Chahal for coming up with variations and also sticking to his game plan. As for Jadeja, his accuracy is what finds Klaasen challenging and is looking forward to facing him later in the season again. “I like facing [Yuzvendra] Chahal. It’s always been a good battle. He’s got me out a couple of times and I’ve been scoring off him, so that ratio is nice, I feel. I know he’s an excellent bowler, he’s one of my good friends as well so that will always be a nice challenge. He’s one of the bowlers that is always sticking to his gameplan. Even if you hit him for a couple of good shots, he still follows his process. Obviously he’s one of my mates so you want to take him down. He’s been good. “And Jadeja has been good on his type of wickets. So that’s always a nice challenge. So those two spinners in particular, it’s been good. I haven’t faced a lot of Jadeja so I am looking forward to more of that,” Klaasen said while speaking to Cricbuzz. Klaasen also picked SuperSport Park in Centurion as his favourite venue to bat while also clarifying that he also loves playing at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad which is also the home ground of SRH. “Super Sport Park – I don’t think there’s any better place in the world to play cricket at, especially on a Friday night. And Boland Park (Paarl) has always been my favourite. The mountains in the backdrop and the sun set looks just unbelievable. In the IPL, I obviously enjoy Hyderabad. The wicket has been fantastic there. But probably one of the loudest places I’ve been to is Mumbai. It’s a nice wicket too, as well and a great atmosphere,” Klaasen added.
NEW DELHI: Suryakumar Yadav will be a key batsman for Mumbai Indians going into their high-octane clash against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.IPL ORANGE CAP | IPL PURPLE CAP | IPL POINTS TABLESuryakumar missed MI’s first three matches because of his recovery from injury. Though he registered a duck in his comeback game against Delhi Capitals, Suryakumar smashed a 17-ball fifty in the next match against RCB.SKY’s return to form is indeed a good news for MI and ahead of their match against CSK, they shared a video on X that the world’s top-ranked batter hitting the ball around the park in a practice session. Suryakumar, known for his aggressive batting style and consistency, has had some memorable performances against CSK in the IPL. Suryakumar has played crucial innings against CSK that have helped his team, MI, secure victories. His ability to accelerate the scoring rate and play under pressure has been evident in these matches.Suryakumar has often scored significant runs against CSK, including half-centuries and impactful cameos. His ability to score quickly and find gaps in the field has troubled CSK’s bowlers on multiple occasions.What makes Suryakumar a threat to CSK is his consistency. He has shown the ability to perform well in different situations, whether chasing a target or setting a competitive total. Suryakumar’s versatility as a batsman allows him to adapt to different match situations. This makes him a valuable asset for MI, especially in matches against strong opponents like CSK.Suryakumar’s matchups against CSK bowlers, including spinners like Ravindra Jadeja and pacers like Deepak Chahar, have often been intriguing and have showcased his skills as a batsman capable of handling various bowling styles.Suryakumar’s performances against CSK highlight his importance as a key player for MI and his ability to deliver when facing one of the strongest teams in the IPL.
NEW DELHI: There’s no bigger clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) than the one between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. It’s a classic rivalry to say the least.Both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are powerhouse teams, each having won the trophy five times. Whenever they clash, it’s not just a cricket match, but a showdown of talent, strategy, and nerves. Their matches are always highly anticipated and fiercely contested, with fans from both sides eagerly watching every ball.The MI vs CSK rivalry is characterized by competitiveness, high-quality cricket, and memorable moments, making it one of the most captivating matchups in the IPL.But regardless of the rivalry, the players of both the teams are friends and have mutual admiration for each other.On the eve of the clash between the two teams at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, the official X handle of CSK shared a video of players both the teams meeting and greeting each other.Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur who are from Mumbai play for CSK.In the video, Rohit Sharma was seen talking to Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja interacting with Tilak Verma. And the friends from the Caribbean, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were seen talking to CSK head coach Stephen Fleming.Bravo and Pollard have had numerous and memorable on-field clashes but their friendship has only grown stronger over the years.Shardul Thakur was also seen talking to Ishan Kishan, whose idol is the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni.The MI-CSK rivalry began in the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008. Since then, MI and CSK have faced each other numerous times in the league stage, playoffs, and finals, adding to the intensity of their rivalry.Both teams have had their moments of dominance. However, CSK has historically had a slight edge in head-to-head matches, particularly in the earlier seasons of the IPL. In recent years, MI have balanced the scales, making the rivalry even more compelling. MI and CSK have often met in crucial playoff matches and finals, elevating the stakes of their encounters. These matches have produced some thrilling moments and have been highly anticipated by fans of both teams.The rivalry is also fueled by the presence of star players in both teams. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah (MI) and MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja (CSK) have played key roles in shaping the outcomes of matches between these teams over the years.MI and CSK have large and passionate fan bases, adding to the atmosphere and excitement whenever they face each other on the field. The support from fans further intensifies the rivalry.
NEW DELHI: Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle has sparked debate over the inclusion of India all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in June. Bhogle’s comments come in light of Pandya’s recent struggles with fitness and his limited bowling contribution in the IPL 2024 season.Pandya, who captains the Mumbai Indians in this year’s IPL, made a comeback to cricket after a five-month hiatus due to an ankle injury sustained during the ODI World Cup last year.While Pandya initially bowled a few overs in his return matches, his bowling workload has been sporadic, raising doubts over his ability to contribute as an all-rounder.Bhogle pointed out Pandya’s waning power-hitting skills and questioned whether he still merits a place in the T20 World Cup squad solely as a batsman if he is unable to bowl consistently.“If Hardik is not bowling, does Hardik make the T20 World Cup squad?” Bhogle questioned, while speaking on Cricbuzz. “Is he among the top six batters in India if he is not bowling? I’m not totally convinced of that because if he is not bowling and he is not finishing as powerfully, he needs to bat up, where all the competition is.”Bhogle emphasized the importance of Pandya’s all-round abilities in balancing India’s playing XI, particularly in the absence of regular bowling options among the top-order batsmen. Pandya’s ability to bowl four overs provides a crucial additional bowling option for the team and ensures the presence of at least two all-rounders, with Ravindra Jadeja also in contention.However, with Pandya’s fitness and bowling form under scrutiny, his selection for the T20 World Cup could hinge on his ability to regain full fitness and contribute effectively with both bat and ball.
