Ravindra Jadeja was one of the star performers for Chennai Super Kings as they took on the might of Lucknow Super Giants on Friday. The left-handed batsman first scored a 40-ball half-century in the first innings to help his side post a competitive total of 176 runs at the Ekana Sports City stadium. Later in the match, Jadeja also took a gem of a catch to send the well-set KL Rahul back to the pavilion. Since then, a video of the catch has gone viral on social media, with cricket pundits and netizens praising Jadeja's one-handed stunner.
The infamous action took place in the 18th over of the match, with LSG skipper KL Rahul on 82 and looking to take his team to victory. However, Rahul appeared to be in a hurry when he decided to cut a delivery from Matheesha Pathirana over the point fielder for a boundary. The LSG skipper didn't seem to have taken into account his Indian teammate Ravindra Jadeja, who was fielding at point and took a stunning one-handed flying catch to send him back to the pavilion.
Former India coach and commentator Ravi Shastri was immediately impressed by Jadeja's effort, declaring that the left-hander had probably taken the "catch of the tournament". Commenting on Jadeja's fielding effort, Shastri said “What a catch! Is that the catch of the IPL? That was flying like a tracer bullet and he has plucked it out of thin air as if it’s nothing. That’s the brilliance of the man. What a stunner this is!”
Noted cricket presenter Harsha Bhogle was also impressed with Jadeja's catching abilities. He wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “Purely as a fielder, Jadeja is box-office. That is in a very small short list for the catch of the tournament”
