"He stood till the end...": Aakash Chopra hails Ravindra Jadeja's performance
May 06, 2024
Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 6 : Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra hailed Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's performance in the clash against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League 2024 on Sunday.
Jadeja came in to bat with CSK reduced to 101/5 at the scenic Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. He played a game-changing knock of 43 off 26 deliveries, which was laced with three boundaries and two maximums.
With the ball, he took three important scalps while giving away just 20 runs in his four-over spell. He was adjudged Player of the Match for his influential performance and talked about his role for CSK.
"After that, wickets kept falling at regular intervals, whether it was Daryl Mitchell, who fell prey to Harshal (Patel), or Moeen Ali, who fell prey to Sam Curran. Ravindra Jadeja stood till the end but it didn't seem even once that this team had any momentum in this game," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"In fact, Shardul Thakur was about to be caught in the deep but they got six extra runs, or else Mahi (MS Dhoni) might have had to come earlier. Mahi's bat also didn't hit the ball, the first ball hit the stumps. The previous ball had hit Shardul's stumps," the commentator added.
Recapping the match, PBKS won the toss and elected to field first. CSK lost their wickets at regular intervals. It was knocks from Ravindra Jadeja (43 in 26 balls, with three fours and two sixes), Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 in 21 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Daryl Mitchell (30 in 19 balls, with two fours and a six) that took CSK to a respectable 167/9 in their 20 overs.
Rahul Chahar (3/23) and Harshal Patel (3/24) were the pick of the bowlers for PBKS. Arshdeep Singh got two wickets while Sam Curran got a wicket too.
In the run-chase, PBKS lost two wickets early, with Tushar Deshpande (2/35) striking for Men in Yellow, but Prabhsimran Singh (30 in 23 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Shashank Singh (27 in 20 balls, with four boundaries) helped them recover with a 53-run partnership. However, Ravindra Jadeja (3/20), Mitchell Santner (1/10) and Simarjeet Singh (2/16) helped CSK make a stunning comeback and restrict Punjab to 139/9 in their 20 overs.
Jadeja received the 'Player of the Match' performance for his three wickets and a knock of 43.
CSK has gone up to third place in the points table with six wins and five losses, giving them 12 points. PBKS is at the eighth spot with four wins, seven losses and just eight points.
