The knock which consisted of nine four and three sixes lifted KKR from 89/5 in 11.3 overs to 204/7 in 20 overs. Shardul got a brilliant partner in Rinku Singh who smoked three sixes and two fours en route to his 33-ball 46. The duo partnered for 103 runs off 47 balls.
Sehwag took to Twitter to praise Shardul and Rinku for their clean hitting and referred to them as ‘Lord’ – nicknames given by the fans to the two cricketers. Shardul’s teammate Rahmanullah Gurbaz brought the tweet to his notice after the match.
Lord Shardul .. Lord Rinku ..
Zabardast clean hitting #RcbvKKR— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 6, 2023
“Paaji, aapse hi to seekhe hai. Aap toh guru ho clean hitting k. Aapse better kaun maarta hai fast bowlers ko. Hum to dekh dekh kar sikhe hai (Sir, I have learnt it from you. You are the king of clean hitting, Who better than you to smash fast bowlers. We have learnt by watching you),” Shadrul Thakur said, reacting to the tweet in his fun chat with Gurbaz.
Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Gurbaz himself hit a crucial fifty (57 off 44) at the top. Courtesy of the knocks from Gurbaz, Shardul and Rinku, and exceptional bowling performances from spinner Varun Chakravarthy (4/15), Suyash Sharma (3/30) and off-spinner Sunil Narine (2/16), KKR defeated RCB by 81 runs.
The win was KKR’s first of the IPL 2023 season and also Nitish Rana’s first as the team’s captain. The two-time champions meet unbeaten defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in a day match in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
