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Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar compared Dinesh Karthik’s massive six to tennis icon Novak Djokovic during Chennai Super Kings’ clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The 17th edition of the T20I cash-rich tournament kicked off on March 22 with reigning champions Chennai hosting Bengaluru at their home ground Chepauk. The high-octane thriller was preceded by a star-studded ceremony, featuring stars like AR Rahman, Sonu Nigam, Akshay Kumar, and more.
Bengaluru came to bat first, but the promising line-up faced the wrath of CSK bowlers, especially CSK debutant Mustafizur Rahman. By the end of the 17 overs, RCB had lost five batters including their former captain Virat Kohli. Karthik, who came to bat in for his side at seventh, started his innings with brilliant shots, including a massive six. Sunil Gavaskar, the former India opener compared Karthik’s six with tennis superstar Novak Djokovic’s forehand action. While commentating for the game, Gavaskar said, “Dinesh Karthik hits a Djokovic forehand that goes for a six.”
The Indian veteran played a remarkable knock of 38* runs off 26 deliveries and reflected upon his batting. He said, “Feel a bit rusty. Right till the last over, I was finding my form. Wasn’t coming as smoothly but that’s understandable. I was trying hard, we were in a pressure situation and I was trying to stitch a partnership with a young guy who’s been around for a while. It is a very good pitch and looks good for batting. We are slightly under par, so we need to field well and bowl out of our skin. We lost a few wickets in the middle, that hurt us.”
Earlier, Faf du Plessis won the toss, and speaking about playing in Chennai for the first time with RCB said, “Looks a good wicket, conditions here are a bat first wicket. First time back here, great to see the Chennai fans again but I'm here with RCB and hopefully we can turn over a very good CSK team. Prep has been good, we need to turn up now.”
