Watch: Rahane's ridiculous shot during fiery KKR knock sees Shastri go berserk; Pietersen says 'one of the greatest'

It indeed was a premeditated attempt, and an absurd shot from Rahane as Ravi Shastri went berserk on-air while his colleague Simon Doull was left shell-shocked.

If one would have said at the start of last month that the batter with the highest strike rate (minimum 100 balls) in the first half of IPL 2023 would be Ajinkya Rahane, anyone would have laughed it off. Despite the accolades he has earned during his career so far, Rahane has never been regarded as a T20 player and little was expected off him when he headed into the tournament having been in the wilderness over the last one year. But Rahane has taken IPL 2023 by storm with his exceptional batting and unthinkable stroke play, an example of which was largely on display at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday en route to his blitzkrieg 71* that helped Chennai Super Kings amass a colossal 235 for four. (KKR vs CSK Live Score, IPL 2023)

Ravi Shastri; Ajinkya Rahane; Kevin Pietersen

Rahane smashed six boundaries and five maximums during his outrageous knock of 71 runs off just 29 balls. But the boundary that went viral all over the internet, leaving even veteran cricketers go berserk was the insane scoop shot towards the fag end of CSK's innings.

It happened in the 18th over of the innings when Kulwant Khejroliya dished out a low full toss delivery well outside the off stump. And Rahane, in a rather uncharacteristic manner, shuffled across, opened the face of the bat and just scooped it in a classy fashion over short third man for a boundary. It indeed was a premeditated attempt, but an absurd shot as well as Ravi Shastri went berserk on-air while his colleague Simon Doull was left shell-shocked.

Rahane's unbeaten knock, clubbed with Shivam Dube and Devon Conway's respective fifties saw CSK set a target of 236 against KKR.