Rajasthan Royals registered a crushing eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings and began their TATA IPL 2026 campaign on a high at home. Speaking on Star Sports’ ‘Amul Cricket Live’, JioStar experts Saba Karim and Sanjay Bangar lauded Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s fearless maturity with the bat, while also highlighting how the bowling combination of Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer rattled CSK’s top order.
Speaking on Star Sports’ ‘Amul Cricket Live’, JioStar expert Saba Karim lavished praise on Vaibhav Suryavanshi for his fearless batting:
“Vaibhav Suryavanshi started TATA IPL 2026 from where he left off last season. It was yet another dominating show of aggressive batting. A joy to watch him execute the shots he played. He showed maturity in his knock, targeting the right deliveries, and he did that by batting at a strike-rate of more than 250. The more he progresses at this level, the better he will become. He is becoming very sagacious now and one can sense there is some kind of wisdom in the way he executes his shots. The intent remains the same. There is aggression. There is this intent of clearing the boundary whenever he gets an opportunity, be it against a pace bowler or even against a spin bowler.”
On what made Nandre Burger so effective against CSK:
“Nandre Burger is rapid and his line and length was quite impeccable. He bowled a special delivery to dismiss Sanju Samson. It was a natural variation that took the ball away from Samson. He took Ayush Mhatre by surprise with his sharp bouncer. Left-arm pacers in any case flourish bowling those kinds of deliveries. Plus, since he is so rapid, he tends to hurry the batter and catches them off guard with unexpected deliveries. On a Guwahati pitch that was in favour of the pacers, Burger stuck to the good length deliveries, and they worked in a wonderful manner for him.”
Speaking on Star Sports’ ‘Amul Cricket Live’, JioStar expert Sanjay Bangar highlighted Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s fearless approach:
“Vaibhav Suryavanshi was a class apart. He dominated a good bowling attack. He took on Matt Henry, a new ball bowler, who challenges top batters internationally. He toyed with Khaleel Ahmed, who swings the ball both ways. He got the better of Anshul Kamboj, known for hitting the deck hard with good length deliveries. He even made life difficult for mystery bowler Noor Ahmad. At the age of 15, he dominated four quality bowlers with his fearless batting and forced them to move away from their strengths. Henry had to bowl slower balls. Khaleel had to try different things. He put pressure on all of them. That shows Vaibhav, with his fearless approach, is getting into the minds of established bowlers. I admired that quality in his innings. The start this wonder boy has had makes sure it’s going to be a cracker of a season for him.”
On how the bowling combination of Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer created difficulties for CSK’s opening batters:
“RR’s new ball bowlers Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer had a good outing against the opening pair of Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Both are quality batters and have the ability to take the game away from the opposition. But the way Archer and Burger bowled in tandem was really good to watch. Both were getting a lot of movement from the pitch, and the left-hand and right-hand bowling angles created problems for CSK’s opening pair. Once you get Sanju Samson out and then immediately in the next over you get the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad, it is icing on the cake. Those two are the most established batters of CSK, on whom the entire fulcrum of CSK’s batting revolves. Getting those powerplay wickets is extremely critical for any bowler to stamp their authority and get ahead in the game. It went really well for RR.”
Watch Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans in the TATA IPL today, 7:30 PM onwards, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network
