Ravindra Jadeja produced a stellar all-round performance as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 69 runs in the 19th match of IPL 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday (April 25).
Batting at No. 5, Jadeja smashed 62 not out off 28 deliveries to propel CSK to a mammoth 191/4 before returning with the bowling figures of 3/13 in his four overs to restrict RCB to 122/9.
The CSK all-rounder also affected a run-out with a direct hit to send Dan Christian back to the pavilion and deservedly earned the Player-of-the-Match award.
Speaking after the game, CSK skipper MS Dhoni said Jadeja’s batting has improved by leaps and bounds in the past few years and thus it was worth giving him the No. 5 slot.
“Jaddu is somebody who can change the game on his own. In the last few years, we’ve seen significant change in batting and it’s worth it to give him that extra bit of time, extra deliveries,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation when asked about Jadeja being sent in at No. 5.
The highlight of Jadeja’s dazzling knock was his assault on Harshal Patel in the last over of CSK’s innings. He whacked Harshal for 37 runs, including 5 sixes and a four.
“The bowlers have found it difficult to contain left-handers, and that helps as well,” Dhoni said.
According to the CSK captain, Jadeja’s innings gave them 25 runs above the par score.
“It’s a good wicket but I felt the spinners had something up their sleeves and I felt that extra few runs Jadeja made helped. 165 would have been par, and once you get 25 extra the opposition has to come a little harder.
“You cannot make your strategy on the assumption of what dew will do – frankly, some games have been high scoring, some have been low scoring. You have to assess every game and today we made the right decision to bat.”
Dhoni also wanted to clarify that CSK haven’t done anything different from last year in UAE, where they failed to qualify to the play-offs for the first time in IPL history.
“We’re not doing anything drastically different from what we did last year. Me and Fleming, we keep saying that we focus on the process.
“You gain more respect if you keep following your path when you’re under pressure. I think that is something that gave a lot of confidence to the players. Credit to the players.”
(With PTI inputs)
