The opening match of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was played between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Gujarat Titans (GT). It was a hard-fought win for the Titans, who beat the four-time champions by five wickets. But despite this loss, there were several positives for MS Dhoni's side, including the bowling performance of 20-year-old Rajvardhan Hangargekar, which left many of his teammates impressed
Playing his first IPL match ever, that too an opener against the defending champions, but the former U-19 World Cup winner showed his class after his initial hiccups. He took three wickets, including the dangerous Sai Sudharsan, who scored 22 runs from 17 balls including three fours. He shared a crucial 53-run partnership with Shubman Gill for the second wicket from 34 deliveries in the run chase before he toe-ended the ball to MS Dhoni.
Hangargekar, from Maharashtra, conceded 36 runs in his 4 overs and took three wickets. He dismissed Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudarshan and Vijay Shankar during his spell. The youngster was in the 2022 U-19 team that won the World Cup and was bought by CSK for Rs 1.5 crore in the 2022 IPL mega auction.
At 20, Hangargekar is the fourth youngest player to make his CSK. Abhinav Mukund was the youngest at 18, while Ankit Rajput and Matheesha Pathirana of Sri Lanka are in second and third place.
The young gun has taken a total of five wickets in eight T20 matches played before his IPL debut. He also has an extremely impressive economy of 5.54. In List A matches, this bowler has taken a total of 25 wickets in 13 matches, and 13 wickets in 4 first-class matches. Hangargekar was also impressive in the 2022 U-19 World Cup, taking five wickets in six matches.
Skipper Dhoni heaped praise on the youngster after his performance, "I think Raj (Hangargekar) has pace and he will get better with time. Think the bowlers will get better, a no-ball is something that's in your control, so you need to work on that. I felt two left-armers will be a better option so I went ahead with them. Shivam (Dube) was an option, but I felt comfortable with the bowlers overall."
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