Making his debut for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Ajinkya Rahane played sensational innings, scoring a blistering half-century against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 12th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match took place at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Coming in at no. 3 after the early dismissal of Devon Conway, Rahane hit his first ball for a couple.
Ajinkya Rahane then started to increase the momentum in the second over of Jason Behrendorff by swivel-pulling a short delivery over a deep fine leg for six before unleashing in the next over. In the fourth over, the 34-year-old batsman smashed left-arm pacer Arshad Khan for 23 runs, including six and four consecutive fours.
This knock marks Rahane’s seventh IPL franchise since 2008. The right-handed batsman reached his half-century in just 19 deliveries with successive boundaries off the bowling of Piyush Chawla in the sixth over, setting the record for the fastest fifty of the season so far.
WATCH – Yashaswi Jaiswal Makes A Schoolboy Error To Give A Lifeline To David Warner
Ajinkya Rahane played a blitzkrieg knock out of the blue when CSK was chasing down the target of 158 runs against Mumbai Indians. His exquisite strokeplay and aggressive intent have left the Mumbai bowlers bewildered and struggling to contain his onslaught. If Rahane can continue his impressive form, the Chennai Super Kings will fancy their chances of securing victory with 5 overs to spare.
Here is the video of Rahane smashing the youngster:
Earlier in the game, CSK skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl first, with both captains announcing key absentees. While the Super Kings’ were without star English all-rounders Mooen Ali and Ben Stokes, MI also had a key absentee as they were without pace spearhead Jofra Archer.
WATCH – Dwaine Pretorius Takes A Tag Team Catch With Ruturaj Gaikwad
A three-wicket haul by Ravindra Jadeja was crucial to seeing MI’s batting unit collapse and manage a score of just 157/8 on the board. On his debut for CSK, Ajinkya Rahane scored a 19-ball half-century to ensure a solid foundation for the Men in Yellow as they got to the target with 11 balls to spare.
Here is how the netizens applauded Ajinkya Rahane:
#AjinkyaRahane 61(27) 🔥
Fours 7 Sixes 3
Much needed contribution at the right time 💥
Well played Buddy 🙌#CSKvsMI @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/2r1skyNC3L
— Filmi craft (@filmicraft) April 8, 2023
Some 61s are more special than others.
T20I Debut – 31 August, 2011
61 (39) v 🏴IPL Comeback – 8 April, 2023
61 (27) vs #MI #India #CricketTwitter #CSKvsMI #MIvCSK #AjinkyaRahane pic.twitter.com/8fXlOdyyGe— Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog (@cricket_broken) April 8, 2023
#Rahane joined dhoom dhadaka club 🤘🤘#CSKvsMI #MIvsCSK #AjinkyaRahane pic.twitter.com/fQ9WhU4Kpl
— Bindass27 (@bindass27) April 8, 2023
#AjinkyaRahane
Ajinkya RahaneBefore Vs Tonight ☺️☺️#MIvsCSK pic.twitter.com/BW8Or9sOwk
— फिलासफर©™ (@battyphilo) April 8, 2023
People will remember this Ajinkya Rahane knock for a long time.
Take a bow 🙇♂️ pic.twitter.com/MbrWTV5AfB
— Yash MSdian ™️ 🦁 (@itzyash07) April 8, 2023
Pure Class, Such a Joyful to watch #Rahane playing a beautiful knock. Quality of Cricket. Always been a great fan of his batting skills. Love you Ajju Bhai… #Jinx 💛💛💛 @ajinkyarahane88 #AjinkyaRahane #CSKvsMI #MIvsCSK #IPL2023
Hope to you see in #wtcfinal— Harish🇮🇳 (@harish_207) April 8, 2023
Ab toh Ajinkya Rahane ka form bhi waapis aa gaya,
Tum kab aaogi? pic.twitter.com/ocKCM3KInV— Veersain Singh 🇮🇳❤ (@veersain_singh) April 8, 2023
#Rahane showing his performance to Indian team selectors.#MIvsCSK #CSK #AjinkyaRahane #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/CDfW1pUlxi
— The Honest Trader (@THEH0NESTTRADER) April 8, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane … giving a statement.
&
Making the most of the opportunity #CSKvsMI pic.twitter.com/933lB1uzws— Deepak Singh Kushwah (@its_dsk) April 8, 2023
No hate only facts – Ajinkya Rahane is the greatest player from Mumbai in IPL. pic.twitter.com/UB0WM9vclP
— ` (@kollytard) April 8, 2023
