Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after the four-time champions recorded a comfortable win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in the first El Clasico of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Saturday. Ravindra Jadeja's spin bowling heroics followed by a batting masterclass from Ajinkya Rahane guided CSK to a seven-wicket win over record-time winners Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium.
Jadeja, who was named the Player of the Match, plucked an absolute blinder off his own bowling to dismiss MI batter Cameron Green in the IPL Clasico. Reacting to Jadeja's stunning catch after CSK outclassed Rohit Sharma's MI in the cash-rich league, batting legend Gavaskar namedropped Chennai captain Dhoni while praising the veteran all-rounder.
"Like his captain, Jadeja is absolutely fearless. Green's catch is like making a possibility out of the improbable. No matter how much you praise this player, it is less," Gavaskar told Star Sports. Thwarting Mumbai Indians’ bid to register a massive total at the Wankhede, Jadeja bagged the crucial wickets of Ishan Kishan (32), Green (12) and Tilak Varma (22) in match No.12 of the IPL 2023. Superstar Jadeja bagged three wickets and leaked 20 runs in four overs against Mumbai Indians.
The former Indian skipper also hailed veteran batter Rahane, who smashed the fastest half-century of the IPL 2023 during the recently concluded Clasico between two of the most successful teams in the history of the cash-rich league. Batting legend Gavaskar asserted that Rahane played a knock for the ages in the world’s richest T20 league. “But the show-stopper of the evening was a Mumbai boy albeit in CSK's yellow jersey, Rahane - who played a knock for the ages. Playing his first game for CSK, the India cricketer made everyone fall in love with his classical stroke play, again,” Gavaskar added.
{{/usCountry}}The former Indian skipper also hailed veteran batter Rahane, who smashed the fastest half-century of the IPL 2023 during the recently concluded Clasico between two of the most successful teams in the history of the cash-rich league. Batting legend Gavaskar asserted that Rahane played a knock for the ages in the world’s richest T20 league. “But the show-stopper of the evening was a Mumbai boy albeit in CSK's yellow jersey, Rahane - who played a knock for the ages. Playing his first game for CSK, the India cricketer made everyone fall in love with his classical stroke play, again,” Gavaskar added.
{{/usCountry}}Released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, Rahane was signed by Dhoni's CSK at his base price of INR 50 lakh for the new season. Playing a match-winning knock in his debut match for Dhoni's Yellow Brigade, Rahane smashed 61 off 27 balls as CSK crushed MI by 7 wickets at Wankhede Stadium. Former champions CSK have climbed to the fourth spot in the IPL 2023 standings after their impressive win over Mumbai.