Table of Contents
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja displayed his A-game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday (October 29).
Though the CSK have already been eliminated from the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 but their spirit is still intact. A glimpse of such was seen during CSK’s chase of 173 runs when Jadeja propelled CSK to their fifth win in the tournament by slamming a quickfire 31 runs from 11 balls including 2 fours and 3 sixes.
The Yellow Army were sprinting towards victory when Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu were taking the KKR bowlers to the cleaners. However, the Knight Riders came back in the game after they dismissed both the batters in quick succession.
CSK needed as many as 30 runs to defeat KKR in last two overs, but Jadeja had some other plans. He along with Sam Curran, demolished Lockie Ferguson in the penultimate over to collect 20 runs from it.
In the final over, the Super Kings required 10 runs to win, and KKR’s young pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti gave away only three runs off the first four balls.
After that, Jadeja took charge and smashed a six over the deep mid-wicket to equal the score. The Jamnagar-lad again sent the ball into the stands to take CSK over the line in grand fashion.
The victory pushed KKR in more trouble as they are now placed at the fifth spot in the points table with only one game to go.
In the meantime, Rajasthan Royals (RR) thanked Jadeja for playing the match-winning hand and keeping them alive in the competition. KKR’s loss against CSK meant that the RR still have a chance of making the IPL 2020 playoffs.
“Once a Royal, always a Royal,” wrote Royals on Twitter by posting an old pic of Jaddu wearing the RR jersey.
Once a Royal, always a Royal. 🙌#CSKvKKR | #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/hj3wJAgxFg
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) October 29, 2020
Jadeja made his IPL debut for RR in 2008. He then moved to the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala. In the 2012 IPL player auction, Jaddu was roped in by CSK for INR 9.72 crores.
Jadeja celebrates win in a unique style
After smashing consecutive sixes in the final over of CSK’s chase, Jadeja celebrated in a unique style. Unlike his trademark ‘Sword Celebration’, Jadeja made a big statement by pointing to the back of his CSK jersey and then gesturing, probably to his critics, to keep quiet.
Here’s the video:
A nail-biting finish. @imjadeja finishes off in style 👏👏#CSK win by 6 wickets.#Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/eaoeT1cU4k
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 29, 2020
After the match, the all-rounder revealed that he was just waiting for deliveries to come under his radar to hit a six.
“I was hitting the ball well in the nets and kept thinking about that, and I managed to do that in the match. We (he and Sam Curran) were talking about going after the bowlers, and in the last 12 balls, you don’t think much. Just see the ball and hit the ball. I was looking not to lose my shape, and I knew if they bowled in my arc, I could hit a six,” Jadeja said during the post-match presentation.
