Watch: Ajinkya Rahane came out on top in a ‘mind-game’ battle against R Ashwin and smashed him for six during Chennai Super Kings’ fixture against Rajasthan Royals.

The incident occurred in the final over of the powerplay. Rahane chipped the first ball over the off-side ring and collected a couple of runs. On the third ball of the over, just as Rahane was preparing to give Ashwin the charge, the latter pulled out at the last moment. Moments later, as Ashwin bowled the ball, it was Rahane’s turn to pull out, forcing the umpire to signal a dead ball.

The drama did not end there, though. When Ashwin finally delivered the ball, Rahane was almost undone, a leading edge landing safe. Next ball, he hit back. The ball landed on a length just outside off stump. Rahane danced down the track and caressed it majestically over the wide long-off fence for a maximum. This passage also got the crowd involved. Up until that point, they were a little quiet and were still reeling after Ruturaj Gaikwad’s dismissal inside the powerplay.

Once this happened, however, there were vociferous chants of “CSK, CSK” all around, and Rahane obliged by producing a shot of tremendous quality. Ashwin, though, had the last laugh as he trapped Rahane lbw in the 10th over and piled further pressure on CSK.

Watch the ‘mind games’ below:

Ashwin and rahane me kaleshh pic.twitter.com/1oMcReJH5K

— Aditya Verma 🇮🇳 (@Adityaverma_12) April 12, 2023

Watch Rahane hitting Ashwin for a six: