The Rajasthan Royals did an impressive double over the Chennai Super Kings in the 2023 Indian Premier League. Sanju Samson's men defied the odds to beat the MS Dhoni-led CSK at the latter's home ground (MA Chidambaram Stadium) in the first leg, and then cruised to a 32-run win over the men in yellow at home. But even as the second win was far more dominant for the Royals, the side earned laurels for their dramatic three-run victory over CSK in Chennai – and Sandeep Sharma was the architect of the sensational win.
The Indian pacer had seemed to lose his nerve as he bowled a couple of wides in his final over of the match, and then Dhoni whipped him over square leg and mid-wicket for a couple of sixes. Defending 6 off the last two deliveries, the medium pacer got a wide yorker to Jadeja and then a perfect block-hole ball to Dhoni as he only conceded a couple of singles, ensuring a narrow win for the Royals.
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Weeks after the victory, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin – who was also part of the RR XI in the game – spoke in detail about the final over and also revealed his conversation with Sandeep before the last delivery. Interestingly, Ashwin had actually suggested the pacer to go with the “riskiest” delivery, and revealed why he did that.
"Sandeep Sharma bowled that last over to Dhoni and he smashed him for two sixes. When you are defending 20 runs and when a guy like Dhoni has smashed you for 2 sixes, the odds of you coming out on top of that battle from there are literally none," Ashwin said.
{{/usCountry}}"Sandeep Sharma bowled that last over to Dhoni and he smashed him for two sixes. When you are defending 20 runs and when a guy like Dhoni has smashed you for 2 sixes, the odds of you coming out on top of that battle from there are literally none," Ashwin said.
{{/usCountry}}“‘What’s the highest risk ball at this point’, I asked." Sandeep replied, “Slower length ball."
“I said, ‘You try bowling that to him now’."
“At the end of the day, at that point in time, it is the riskiest ball that the batter won’t be expecting. Because he knows that the bowler is under immense pressure," Ashwin added.
The Royals are currently fourth in the IPL 2023 table with five wins in nine matches, while the Super Kings are second with 11 points; their match against Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday was washed out.