Srinagar: Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out CSK’s impact player Ambati Rayudu after senior batters another failure in the ongoing IPL 2023.
The former India cricketer has managed to score 83 runs in eight outings in IPL 2023 at an average of 16.60 – the lowest in his 14-year-long career in the cash-rich league.
In this edition of the IPL, he has been mostly used only as a batter or an Impact Player by CSK.
Coming in to bat at No.4 in CSK’s 203-run chase against Rajasthan, Rayudu was out for a second-ball duck while trying to play a big shot against RR’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
“You got to field. You can’t just come out to bat and start hitting the ball. You can’t do that. We have seen that with Prithvi Shaw. He has just been coming out to bat without success. No fielding, no scoring. Rayudu is out for a second-ball duck,” Gavaskar said on commentary when Rayudu got out.
Opting to bat, RR rode on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 43-ball 77 to reach a competitive 202 for five. Jaiswal and Jos Buttler (27 off 21) shared 86 runs in 8.2 overs as RR made a brilliant start.
Young Dhruv Jurel smashed 34 off 15 balls, while Devdutt Padikkal remained unbeaten on 23 off 13 deliveries to power RR past the 200-run mark. For CSK, Tushar Deshpande picked up two wickets giving away 42 runs from his four overs. Chasing, CSK never looked in the fray as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to 170 for six.
Shivam Dube (52 off 33) and opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (47 off 29) and top-scored for CSK.Adam Zampa scalped three wickets for RR, giving away 22 runs.