Chennai Super Kings showed their mettle and defeated Gujarat Titans in a thrilling IPL 2023 final on Monday and lifted their fifth title. Chasing a revised target of 171 in 15 overs (DLS method), Ravindra Jadeja held his nerves and smashed a boundary on the last ball and took CSK to victory by 5 wickets. With this win, CSK equalled the record of Mumbai Indians for having the most number of titles. As both the teams have now won five titles each, the comparisons between MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have been emerging.
However, former Pakistan skipper dismissed any such comparison and stated that there is a vast difference between both the players, especially in terms of fitness where Rohit is lagging behind.
“There’s a world of difference between the two. Rohit Sharma has a big designation, he’s the captain of India. He should be leading by example in all aspects, and fitness is a very important aspect. As a captain, when you are in a position to demand something from your teammates, you should have them yourself. You should be top of the line,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
“When you look at Rohit Sharma, you realise that fitness is one aspect where he can be a lot better. It will improve his batting and confidence as well. But we are talking about it for a long time now. I don’t know why he isn’t fit enough. Maybe he knows the reason himself,” he added.
Coming to the final match, B Sai Sudharsan slammed 96 in 47 balls as Gujarat Titans posted 214 for four after being asked to bat first.
Set a revised target of 171 in 15 overs after rain interrupted play at the start of the second innings of a final that was pushed to the reserve day owing to heavy downpour, CSK completed the task in the last ball, in what could turn out to be Dhoni’s final outing in the T20 league.
Ravindra Jadeja struck a six and a four off Mohit Sharma in the final two balls to win it for CSK and even as the players in the yellow jersey run onto the field, Dhoni remained in the dugout, his eyes closed.
Neither the juggernaut of the Gujarat Titans nor bad weather for two days could stop Dhoni’s men from drawing level with their arch rivals Mumbai Indians, in terms of most IPL trophy wins.
(With PTI inputs)
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