In the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Ajinkya Rahane maintained his impressive performance, delivering a powerful performance against the Chennai Super Kings at Chinnaswamy Stadium, with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) being at the receiving end. Despite coming into the game earlier than anticipated, the batter wasted no time in getting down to business.
Rahane began by rotating the strike and scoring seven runs off the first seven deliveries. However, in the fifth over, bowled by Vijaykumar Vyshak, he shifted gears and smashed a short-of-length delivery from the seamer towards the square leg region, sending the ball soaring onto the roofs of the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Rahane’s effortless strokeplay delighted on-air commentators Sanjay Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar, with the latter exclaiming “I’m rubbing my eyes” in disbelief. The duo continued to heap praise on Rahane, with Gavaskar describing it as a “terrific version” of his game.
After hitting a powerful shot against Vijaykumar Vyshak, Rahane gained the momentum to take on Wayne Parnell, smashing him for two boundaries and a maximum in the following over. However, he was eventually dismissed by Wanindu Hasranga in the 10th over, having scored 37 runs off 20 balls at an impressive strike-rate of 185. Rahane’s knock included three boundaries and two sixes.
RCB invited CSK to bat first and Mohammed Siraj struck early in the powerplay, dismissing the in-form batter Ruturaj Gaikwad for just 3 runs off 6 deliveries.
Rahane had earned a spot in the CSK playing XI after scoring a match-winning 61 off 27 balls in the game against Mumbai Indians. He continued with a similar approach in the subsequent match against Rajasthan Royals, but could only score 31 off 19 balls as CSK narrowly lost the game by 3 runs.