Watch: How confident Hardik Pandya's early celebration was cut short by Jadeja's last-ball brilliance in IPL 2023 final

10 months ago 166

May 30, 2023 03:44 PM IST

The way Mohit had started the last over, GT were still firmly in the contest. And that confidence clearly reflected in the eyes and body language of Hardik

When 10 was required of the final two balls, former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was in the commentary box, nonchalantly mentioned that Chennai Super Kings will win the game with a six and a four. There was no response from his colleagues on-air. And why not. Mohit Sharma had just bowled the most impressive first four deliveries in the last over of the rain-truncated IPL 2023 final. All yorkers and it fetched just three runs to CSK leaving GT still firm in the contest. And that confidence clearly reflected in the eyes and body language of the skipper, Hardik Pandya. But all was cut short in a moment of brilliance from Ravindra Jadeja.

Hardik Pandya had started celebrating moments before Jadeja's brilliance Hardik Pandya had started celebrating moments before Jadeja's brilliance

Mohit was Gujarat's stand-out bowler on Monday night at the Narendra Modi Stadium. When even the likes of Rashid Khan had struggled, pace-off deliveries from the right-arm pacer worked wonders for especially in his penultimate over when he pulled things back for his team with back-to-back wickets. Hence, there was no doubt that he was the man for the last over with GT requiring the defend 13 runs as CSK chased a revised target of 171 in 15 overs.

ALSO READ: Virat Kohli's star-studded message for 'champion' Jadeja, gives 'special mention' to Dhoni after CSK's record IPL win

Mohit bowled four back-to-back yorkers with the CSK pair of Shivam Dube and Jadeja only managing three runs between themselves. With 10 required of the last two balls, Hardik seemed immensely confident that GT would successfully defend the crown. He was all smiles and confidently cheered the bowler from his fielding position as Mohit sprinted in for the penultimate ball.

Watch the video here…

In the end, Shastri's words came true as the veteran bowler erred in length in the final two balls. The undercooked yorker was smashed over long-on for a six before the low full toss on the leg side was drifted past short leg for a boundary as Jadeja pulled off the unthinkable.

Chennai, who had finished ninth in the table in IPL 2022, scripted a magnificent turnaround in space of 12 months to lift a record-equalling fifth IPL title.

"I think we tick a lot of boxes as a team. We play with a lot of heart, really proud of the way we kept fighting. We have a motto - we win together, we lose together. I'm not going to make excuses, CSK played the better cricket," Hardik later said in the post-match presentation.

  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    At HT Sports Desk, passionate reporters work round the clock to provide detailed updates from the world of sports. Expect nuanced match reports, previews,reviews, technical analysis based on statistics, the latest social media trends, expert opinions on cricket, football, tennis, badminton, hockey,motorsports, wrestling, boxing, shooting, athletics and much more.

Read Entire Article