IPL 2020: Sam Curran reacts to MS Dhoni's decision of promoting him up the batting order

The first night of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) witnessed a thrilling opening match between the defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi. Batting first, Mumbai racked up a score of 162 on the board at the loss of 9 wickets in the 20 overs game.

In reply, the Yellow Army had a rocky start as their opening duo Murli Vijay and Shane Watson went back to the pavilion within 2 overs. However, this is when Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu stepped it and steered the ship of the team towards victory. The two players played brilliant innings as Du Plessis scored not out 58 off 44 while Rayudu smashed 71 off 48.

The match became intense when CSK needed 27 runs off 17 balls and Ravindra Jadeja got out on a delivery of Krunal Pandya. It looked like MS Dhoni or Kedar Jadhav would walk on the crease to take the team to victory but to the surprise of many, Dhoni chose England’s all-rounder Sam Curran ahead of him. It proved to be a masterstroke as Curran made 18 off 6 and CSK easily clinched the first match of their 2020 campaign by five wickets.

Two catches that Faf took were really good: Sam Curran

Following the match, Sam and South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi interacted with each other in a video uploaded by the official website of IPL 2020. When Lungi asked the England all-rounder about his experience of the first match, Sam replied that it was a great day and the team effort was brilliant.

“It was good. We won the toss, we knew it was going to be a good wicket. Especially to all the bowlers to keep them to 162. Whatever it was, it was great stuff. And obviously Faf du Plessis bats beautifully there and Rayudu as well. It was great.” Curran said.

Curran’s batting was a highlight of CSK’s innings and speaking about the same, Ngidi revealed that before going out, Curran had told in the dressing room that either he would hit a six or get out. “I heard a comment before you went in – ‘it was either gonna be six or out’,” revealed Ngidi before asking his teammate to speak about it.

In reply, the 22-year-old said that he was really surprised to be batting ahead of the captain but had only one thing in mind to score runs for the team. Curran further praised his teammate Du Plessis for taking two brilliant catches on the outfield.

“To be honest, I was very surprised when Jadeja got out for me to go ahead of MS Dhoni. It was a big shock to me but the plan was obviously to go out there, have a go at them if it comes off, it comes off. Luckily it did tonight. A great win. Two catches that Faf took were really good,” said Curran.