That performance was as dominating and as all-round as there ever could be! A spinning Wankhede track came nowhere out of the syllabus and played right into CSK's hands. This was the track I expected from Chepauk last time, but Wankhede gave us a dolly and the toss win just helped big time. Santner deserves every bit of the backing that he has got this season and was again excellent. But I was very happy with how Jadeja bowled, especially to left handers because in these past many years, there will always be a very worried prayer on CSK fans lips when a left hander faces up to Jadeja. Pulled it off well today (although he was not my Player of the Match).
Great that we went with two death bowlers (Pretorius and Magala) and both did extremely well at the death, making the headache even worse as to how will Moeen and Stokes fit back in. I was extremely upset that they chose Tushar over Rajvardhan, who did absolutely nothing wrong in the two games he played and actually impressed. But Tushar looked incisive with that ripper to Rohit and also got Tim David at the right time before he was exploding.
And Rahane - MAN!! As he said, he was informed just before toss that he was playing, but boy did he literally toy with the MI attack. Yes, MI without Archer looked extremely weak, but who would have thought that Rahane at this stage in his career will come out and bat like this. So reminiscent of how Uthappa exploded in IPL 2021 in the qualifiers and final. Something about CSK makes these aged players extremely comfortable and give their best and play defining roles. Should have gotten the POTM award, but a stunning knock. Ruturaj played a weird role today (could've tried finishing this in 17 overs for NRR) but an away win and that too at Wankhede will be gladly taken at any point of the season.
How is Manish Pandey still a thing in the IPL? Even Rahane is no longer seen as a serious option.
Good one
@Bevab . You threw an anti-Jinx at "Mr. A-Jinxs" (Rahane)
Deepak tweaking Chahar.
He is so so disappointment these days.
Can't even stay fit for 20 overs matches.
Crazy how Chahar manages his fitness. Looked so off-colour in the first two games and literally limped off after the first over. The way he bowled that final ball of his over was UGLY (bowled like a slow medium bowler).
Won't be surprised if he is done for the season. I think CSK will manage though, with the rise of Rajvardhan