In the ongoing IPL 2024, Ajinkya Rahane’s struggle for form persisted during the 49th match against Punjab Kings as he managed 29 runs off 24 balls. Despite showing glimpses of his class with some boundaries, Rahane struggled to find his rhythm initially, resulting in a strike rate of just 120.83.
His innings came to an end in the 9th over when he attempted a big shot off Harpreet Brar’s delivery, aiming for a boundary. However, Rahane only managed to get a top edge, sending the ball towards deep mid-wicket where Rilee Rossouw took a brilliant catch near the boundary ropes.
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Following Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal, Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja fell in quick succession, leaving Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at 70-3 after a solid start of 64-0. Once again, the responsibility fell on the shoulders of CSK’s captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to stabilize the innings and set a competitive total against Punjab Kings, who recently chased down a mammoth target of 263 runs.
Double strike from Harpreet Brar 🔥#TATAIPL #CSKvPBKS #IPLonJioCinema #IPLinHindi pic.twitter.com/O5lVM6nog2
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 1, 2024
During the toss, Punjab Kings elected to bowl first, with Sam Curran expressing excitement about the opportunity to take early wickets and capitalize on the momentum gained from their previous win.
On the other hand, Gaikwad, acknowledging the challenges of defending in dewy conditions, highlighted the importance of a substantial margin of victory and mentioned the absence of players like Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande due to injuries, with Shardul Thakur and Richard Gleeson stepping in as replacements.
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Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI); Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Richard Gleeson, Mustafizur Rahman
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran (c), Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
