CSK vs RCB: How Mustafizur Rahman made an impact at new home Chepauk | Ipl News
Ten deliveries is all that Mustafizur Rahman needed to take the fizz out of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In those 10 deliveries he accounted for Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli and Cameron Green as RCB’s top-order danced to Rahman’s tunes an hour after AR Rahman had Chepauk dancing on its feet.Bengaluru recovered through a 95-run stand between Anuj Rawat (48) and Dinesh Karthik (38 n.o) to post 173/6, a total that was well below par.
When the Super Kings bought Rahman at the player auctions for his base price of Rs 2 crore, it looked every bit a steal. Chennai were walking away with a player, who would ace their home conditions. They had already bought Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi. But Rahman’s acquisition was the icing on the cake. And on the night of the IPL opener, the Bangladesh fast bowler showed the damage he can inflict on the opposition at a ground that remains hard to crack for visiting teams.
Brilliant relay catch 👌Timber strike 🎯
Mustafizur Rahman is making merry & so are @ChennaiIPL 🙌
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A left-arm seamer, who mostly bowls cutters, takes pace off the ball and bowls those lengths that tend to leave batsmen caught at the crease — all make Rahman a trump card in T20s. In six seasons at the IPL before the current one, he has had four different homes – Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. But just one game into the season, there is every reason to believe he is at home in Chennai. If there is any ground that aids his style of bowling, then it is hard to look beyond Chepauk.
Dhaka-like conditions
On the opening night, on a fresh pitch, Rahman would have felt he was closer home to the conditions in Dhaka. He didn’t do anything extra-ordinary here. When he came on to bowl in the fifth over, there were even chants of “RCB, RCB” filling the air momentarily. Faf du Plessis, a player who is still adored in these parts, was the sole reason for it, with seven boundaries coming in the first four overs.
Rahman conceded a boundary off the second ball. Off the next, with Ruturaj Gaikwad providing him protection with a fielder at deep cover, he brought out that leg-cutter. Du Plessis, who was striking beautifully, was early into the stroke as the miscued shot was pouched Rachin Ravindra diving forward. Rahman would greet Rajat Patidar increasing his pace. As Patidar waited for the slower one, Rahman delivered one with a wobble seam, which angled away and took the edge on the way to wicket-keeper MS Dhoni
From there on, Chennai used him judiciously. That he isn’t a one-spell bowler allows captains such luxuries. As Bengaluru rebuilt through Virat Kohli and Cameron Green, Gaikwad instead of using all his three overs at the death, brought him on again in the 12th over with RCB placed at 76/3.
All Happening Here!
Faf du Plessis ✅Rajat Patidar ✅Glenn Maxwell ✅@ChennaiIPL bounced back & in some style 👏 👏#RCB are 3 down for 42 in 6 overs!
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And just like his first over, Rahman mixed it up. Off the second, Kohli fell to a carbon-copy dismissal of Du Plessis with Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin combining for a catch at deep cover.
And off the fourth ball of the over, Green committed the sin that no batsman is supposed to commit against Rahman. Horizontal-bat shots on the off-side always comes with a risk against Rahman who adjusts his pace at the last possible moment of release. And having watched Green make room, he got this one to pitch outside leg and the leg-cutter ended up crashing into the leg-stump. RCB’s boat was rocked at 78/5 before Karthik and Rawat brought them back into the game with a 95-run stand off 50 balls.
Off his next two overs, delivered at the death (17th and 19th), Rahman struck to his strengths, giving away 7 and 16 runs respectively as Rawat and Karthik, two settled batsmen picked his variations and found boundaries that gave Bengaluru a much-needed flourish in the end.
Had Matheesha Pathirana been fit, there is every chance Rahman would have warmed the bench here. But with the Sri Lankan pacer recovering from injury and likely to be available only for the second-half of the tournament, in Rahman, Chennai have found the ideal replacement. Of course, when the pitches here get slower in the month of May, which would be even more handy for Rahman, they will not have his services because of national commitments. But one match into the season, with a strong spin combination in their ranks, it would be interesting to see how tempted the Super Kings are to play on slow surfaces at home straightaway.
