Ravindra Jadeja earned the plaudits from India captain Virat Kohli after the former’s all-round show helped Chennai Super Kings defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai on Sunday.
Jadeja scored 62 off 28 balls and lifted CSK to 191/4 after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bat in a top-of-the-table clash.
37 runs in an over, 3 wickets, direct hit – reactions to Ravindra Jadeja’s epic day vs RCB
Then, with his slow-left arm spin bowling, the star all-rounder picked up the important wickets of AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell to derail RCB’s run chase on a sluggish Wankhede pitch.
After a cracking start that saw them cross 50 in five overs, RCB were stopped at 122/9 in 20 overs while chasing 192.
“One guy completely beat us,” commented Kohli. “Today his skill was there for everyone to see.”
Here’s what Virat Kohli had to say about Jadeja’s heroics: (Watch full interview here)
“His (Jadeja) ability has been there for everyone to see. I am very happy to see him perform with the bat, ball and on the field,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“After two months, he will be back playing for India and it is always a pleasure to see your premier all-rounder do well with the bat. When he plays well and is confident, it lets out many opportunities.”
Kohli threw his weight behind Harshal Patel, who conceded a record 37 runs in the final over to let CSK off the hook in their final over.
With CSK placed at 154/4 in the beginning of their innings’ last over, Jadeja began by clobbering four consecutive sixes off Harshal before adding another off the fifth ball.
Flattened by Jadeja’s hitting, RCB faltered in their chase of 192 and were stopped at 122/9.
“(Harshal) bowled well and we will continue to back him. We will continue to give him responsibility, he got both the set batsmen out and plucked all the momentum away,” Kohli said.
After a cracking start that saw them cross 50 in five overs, RCB lost the plot and brought to an end their four-match winning streak.
“You have to look at it the right way,” Kohli said, trying to stay positive in the face of the big defeat.
“I feel this is a positive feedback for our side. A performance like this, it is good to get this out early on in the tournament. Our start was decent enough.
He said he will continue to open the batting, a role he has chosen for himself in the year of the T20 World Cup.
“We need to look at the loss in the right way. I am opening the innings with Dev (Devdutt Padikkal). We will continue to test our batting depth. As a batting side we are confident. We are going to switch the roles at some point,” Kohli said.
(With PTI inputs)
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