Page 49 - The Indian EYE 051923

SPORTS MAY 19, 2023 | The Indian Eye 49

ers, India played eight T20I matches
and Hardik has led the team to five
victories out of those eight matches.
“Everyone can qualify to play,
but I think Hardik will lead,” Shastri
said, according to ESPNcricinfo.
“The next two World Cups [af-
ter the 2023 ODI World Cup] are
T20 cricket. He’s already [standby
T20I] captain of India, so he will
continue unless he is not fit. I think
they [the selectors] will look into a
new direction. There’s a lot of tal-
ent among the youth at the moment.
You might have a pretty much new
team, there’ll be some new faces if
not a new team.”
“There will be still plenty who
played in the last T20I match that
India played, but there will be some
new faces because what we’ve seen
here in this year’s IPL is some re-
freshing young talent.

“Now I feel they will go the 2007
route, where they will identify

talent and Hardik will have a
big choice when it comes to the Rajasthan Royals’ Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after hitting the winning runs in a match against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier
selection,” Shastri said. League 2023, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata (ANI)

“Because his ideas will be differ- who said that he deserved to be on you can’t help but just appreciate the was bowling really well until that over
ent; he has played the IPL as a cap- the winning team. ways he played,” Iyer added. against MS, he kind of read the play
tain of a franchise and seen a lot of Records tumbled in Kolkata and had him under pressure. Once
the other players. And he’ll have his as Rajasthan Royals climbed to he hit that one down the ground,
inputs.” number three on the points table MS Dhoni has found his you could just see Khaleel, he didn’t
Shastri also talked about the im- in the Indian Premier League 2023 best again: Graeme Smith think he’d get it going. That put him
portance of conversation with senior after registering a 9-wicket victory under pressure. 20 off 9, strike rate
players. over the Kolkata Knight Riders on S Dhoni has “found his of over 220, just the impetus he and
“Because he is the guy who is Thursday at the Eden Gardens. A best again” in a 27-run win Jadeja gave that inning, that 160 to-
going to take the guys out on the Yuzvendra Chahal four-wicket haul Mover the Delhi Capitals at tal created pressure.”
park. Whatever he says has to be giv- and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s record-break- the Chepauk Stadium here, thereby This win allows Chennai to im-
en importance and listened to. ing half-century propelled Rajasthan taking another step towards solidi- prove their tally of wins on the sea-
“It is not that he is playing three Royals to an emphatic victory. fying Chennai Super Kings’ playoff son to seven, trailing the reigning
formats. Everything now is separate. “Every single shot of his, I feel it berth in the 2023 IPL, said former champions and current table-topper
You have Test matches, so the mo- was his day and he deserved to end South Africa captain Graeme Smith. Gujarat Titans by just a point.
ment a Test series comes, he gets a up on the winning side,” Iyer said CSK’s balanced batting saw Former India cricketer Parthiv
corridor of a month to rest and re- in a video shared by KKR on their them score 167 runs with six players Patel on JioCinema laid out what
cuperate. He is supremely confident Twitter handle. hitting 20 or more runs, including a CSK could be aiming for to solidi-
about his own ability. The fact that Jaiswal on Thursday produced blistering 20 from MS Dhoni (9b, fy their qualification, “We had dis-
he is fully fit now makes a massive an exhibition in power-hitting to 1x4, 2x6) on Wednesday. Ruturaj cussed that a win today would al-
difference. Form plays an important script history, becoming the first Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam most guarantee qualification for the
role. When he is fit, then he is argu- player to slam the fastest half-centu- Dube, Ambati Rayudu, and Ravin- playoffs and they can focus on trying
ably one of the best T20 players in ry in Indian Premier League (IPL). dra Jadeja joined Dhoni in the 20- to finish one or two. Finish one or
the world,” Shastri concluded. Jaiswal achieved this feat in the run club, with Dube’s 25 runs being two will ensure they play a match
match against Kolkata Knight Rid- the most (12b, 3x6). in Chennai, so we could see Chen-
ers at the Eden Gardens. Jaiswal Former South Africa captain nai play in the finals once again. We
It was Jaiswal’s day: slammed the half-century in just 13 Graeme Smith recognized the in- know how they have played here.
Venkatesh Iyer balls to script his incredible mile- credible pressure under which Dho- Look at their batting tonight, Shi-
stone to his name. ni plays and said on JioCinema, vam Dube led all scorers with 25
fter Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fire- “Quite disappointing the way “The pressure on him every time he runs, with others getting around 20
works lit up the Eden Gar- things turned out. We didn’t get goes to bat is enormous. to 22 and we still saw a total of 167.
Adens last night, the Rajasthan enough runs on the board but we The roars every time he gets on The way they fielded, bowled, every-
Royals (RR) opener received acco- have to give it to Yashasvi, the way strike, and the crowd goes berserk. thing looks to be going fine. That’s
lades from Kolkata Knight Riders he batted he completely took the It’s incredible to watch, this season, why the team can aim for finishing
(KKR) counterpart Venkatesh Iyer, game away from us and on such days he has found his best again. Khaleel first or second.”

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