Chennai hurt Kolkata with a late but spirited show

By K.R. Nayar

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja bravely step forward to show that Chennai Super Kings' fighting spirit is still alive

The never say die spirit of Chennai Super Kings came to the fore again. Their 23-year-old opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, with an experience of just 21 first class matches, recorded his second consecutive half-century to announce that he is the future star of this team.  Ravindra Jadeja, eight years older to Gaikwad, and who is referred to as ‘Sir Jadeja', cracked a breezy 31 and a winning six off the last ball. The two hurt Kolkata Knight Riders, whose chances to reach the playoff now looks uncertain.

Chennai showed why they’ve been among the most adored teams in the IPL  for years.  Their ability to produce exciting cricket, despite not at their best this season, still lives on. Gaikwad, who tested positive for coronavirus soon after his arrival in UAE for the IPL, stepped forward like a brave soldier for his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been searching for answers to his team’s poor show.  The manner in which he batted demonstrated his maturity much beyond his age. Dhoni had to admit that as Gaikwad was battling to recover from coronavirus, he had delayed in taking a look at his skills.  So forceful was Gaikwad’s entry into the team that he hit half-centuries in both matches and proudly walked away with the player of the match awards in both the contests.

Jadeja, who is one of the many stars, who, over the years has lifted Chennai to great heights, did it again. Though two of Chennai’s top performers, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, opted to stay out of IPL, Jadeja stood up and did what was expected off him.  Walking in after seeing his skipper Dhoni getting foxed by a beautiful delivery from Varun Chakravarthy to be clean bowled, Jadeja bravely went for his shots. Kolkata pacer Lockie Ferguson will never want to recall this match, especially the 19th over in which he gave away 20 runs. Jadeja did not seem particularly intimidated by an internationally reputed bowler.  His approach, as he mentioned, was “just see the ball and hit it.” Kolkata’s young pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti was left with only ten runs to defend in the last over against a raging Jadeja. Though Nargakoti managed to extend the fight till the last ball, Jadeja achieved what he wanted through two consecutive sixes off the last two deliveries.

The match also exposed Kolkata skipper Morgan's glaring mistake of him opting to bat late. In the IPL, victory embraces only those who bravely step up to take the challenge as Gaikwad and Jadeja did.