The 17th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 turned out to be a nail-biting thriller that went down to the wire, where the Royals emerged victorious over CSK by a narrow margin of three runs. It is worth noting that CSK required 21 runs off the final over, which was bowled by Sandeep. Initially, his performance was unsteady, with a couple of wides and two sixes hit by Dhoni. However, the pacer remained composed and showed nerves of steel, enabling RR to secure a hard-fought win on the last ball.
Following the triumph over the 4-time IPL winners, Sandeep took to social media to convey his sentiments. He expressed his admiration for Dhoni and wrote a heartwarming message which said: “Congratulations @msdhoni paji for the 200 IPL matches. An honour to share the field and bowl to him. Forever grateful. #dreamcometrue.”
Pondering on the tense 20th over, Sandeep acknowledged that although he had intended to bowl yorkers to MSD, he was unable to hit the mark. But, he discovered success after altering his angle.
“I wanted to deliver yorkers in the last over. I was bowling good yorkers in the nets. The leg-side was big, but I missed my mark and bowled a couple of low full-tosses, and both went for sixes. Then I changed my angle, and it worked. I bowled over the wicket to Jadeja, and I wanted to keep it away from his reach,” said Sandeep during the post-match presentation.
It is interesting to note that Sandeep was not bought by any team during the IPL 2023 player auction. However, RR was able to secure his services as a replacement for Prasidh Krishna, signing him for his base price of INR 50 lakh.
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