GT vs RR, IPL 2023 Emotional Rollercoaster: Gill’s bragging rights, underrated Sandeep Sharma, bowlers get in a word and squaring of the heavyweights

Heavyweight contest
It was punch and counterpunch towards the end – a couple of big hits followed a wicket – that kept the contest on the edge. Rajasthan Royals seemed out of it in the first half of the chase before Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer brought them back. Then Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin played vital cameos, leaving Hetmyer to finish it off. With Trent Boult coming out as high as No. 9, the West Indian knew he had to do it all on his own. The team needed seven off the final over bowled Afghan wr-spinner Noor Ahmad. A sprinted brace was followed pulled six as Royals got some semblance of revenge for defeat to the Gujarat Titans in last year’s final at the same venue. It also set down a marker for the other teams as they aim to go one step further in this edition.
– Tushar Bhaduri
Youngster gets bragging rights
Names are made taking big names down. Shubman Gill is already a big player but was keen to assert his supremacy over a stalwart like Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been in top form so far. Gill has been one of the shining lights of the league so far. So the contest was one to watch.The first ball was swept to the legside boundary and the over finished with a sumptuous lofted drive over mid-off. The opening skirmish went the youngster’s way.In Ashwin’s next over, a similar shot was unfurled before a skip down the pitch and a six over the sightscreen.Ashwin’s third over, the 12th of the innings, was relatively economical, going for just six. But Gill might just have been a bit circumspect after the dismissal of his captain Hardik Pandya.
– Tushar Bhaduri 
Underrated but reliable
He won Rajasthan Royals their last game in the Chepauk cauldron, against the marauding MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, and Sandeep Sharma did the job for his team against the defending champions as well.Always underrated due to his lack of pace, Sharma banks on cricket intelligence, neat inswing and a good yorker to make himself difficult to hit for the batsmen. He was hit for just one boundary in his first three overs, and got the coveted wicket of the well-set Shubman Gill. That Sharma’s first two overs were bowled inside the Powerplay and went for just eight runs makes his contribution even more noteworthy. He came back to bowl the 20th over and got rid of the rampaging David Miller after getting hit for two consecutive boundaries. A return of 2/25 in four overs is good day’s work.
– Tushar Bhaduri 
Bowlers on top
The first few overs of the Rajasthan Royals chase would have made their top order wonder what format they were playing. Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya made the ball talk, and forget about hitting boundaries, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler struggled to put bat to ball. Pandya’s first over, the second of the innings, had the bat making contact with the ball on just one occasion, for Jaiswal to edge it to slip. Buttler was forced to try something fancy, and went for a scoop against the impressive Shami, only to see his off-stump uprooted. Pandya was bowling well enough to get through his four overs on the trot. Alzarri Joseph, who came on as first change was also generating good pace and bounce, and Sanju Samson and Devdutt Padikkal had to play good cricket shots to get runs, and the pressure generated got the latter’s wicket when Rashid Khan came on.
– Tushar Bhaduri